Last year I shared my plain Cranberry Relish recipe with you, but this year I have totally revamped it and added even more festive cheer to it. Whether it’s for yourself or as a foodie gift for a neighbour this Christmas Spiced Cranberry Relish is going to do the trick for you.
I first must apologise for the really bad photos, it’s dark in Scotland by 2.30pm and I was fighting bad lighting and time. But persevere we Food bloggers must 😥
Relishing in it!
Let’s talk about this Christmas Spiced Cranberry Relish for a bit, shall we? It’s a small batch I’ve made here, totalling 390 grams or 1 and 2/3 cup which makes it perfect for last-minute gift giving. It’s all made in one small pan so very little clean up as well. Double Bonus!
Time for ingredients run down, we start here with a base of onions softened in a little unsalted butter over low heat to make them soft and sweet. We then add our fresh cranberries, orange zest & juice along with a small grated green apple. Granny Smiths are perfect here but any firm tart apple will work and a few sultanas to round it out.
To all this we add a little dark brown sugar, some red wine vinegar and a touch of red wine, white wine works in a pinch. Then we add in some lovely festive spices, allspice, star anise, cinnamon and sweet smoked paprika.
We heat it all together in a pan until it is jam-like and sticky about 20 mins should do it. You then decant it into sterilised warm jars. Unopened your relish will last a couple of months. Once open keep it in the fridge and finish it up in 2 weeks.
This relish is great with cheese, served as a condiment with hot food and I have been told it goes great with the turkey that’s hot or cold! Though I can’t testify to that, it is lovely with cheese, vegan or regular.
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Christmas Spiced Cranberry Relish
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium red onion - chopped finely
- Zest & juice one medium orange
- 150 grams fresh cranberries (1 and 1/2 cups)
- 1 medium green apple - grated
- 3 tablespoons sultanas
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons red or white wine
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1 whole star anise
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
- Pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Gently melt your butter over a low heat in a medium sized saucepan and while that is happening finely chop you onion up and add it to the melted butter. Keep it on a low heat stirring occasionally for at least 5 minutes until your onions are soft and translucent.
- Add in the orange zest and juice along with the fresh cranberries, grated apple and sultanas.
- Spoon in the sugar, red wine vinegar and red/white wine and give everything a good stir.
- Quickly stir in the spices along with the salt.
- Gently increase the heat to bring it all to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and stir continually until you have a sticky jam like substance in the pan. It will take about 15-20 minutes to reach this stage.
- Decant the relish into a steralised jar and seal. Use within 2 months, once opened keep in the fridge and eat within 2 weeks.
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This spiced cranberry relish looks so pretty and festive, Emma. Absolutely loved the combination os spices you have used here. YUMMY.
Thank you Anu 🙂
Anything that starts with the words christmas spiced is soooo my style! This relish sounds wonderful!
Thanks Ashley, I love my spices too 🙂
That would be a great addition to the Christmas table in place of cranberry sauce!!!
Thanks Mariana 🙂
Love this savoury use for cranberries, just perfect for December!
Thank you Caroline, I love cranberries in a savoury dish.
Oh man, my dad would be ALLLLLLL over this!
So was mine! 😀
I hate how early it gets dark here too but I think your photos are awesome! 🙂 I can just imagine how amazing this yummy relish made your house smell! I would eat this by the spoonful! Love the orange, apple and spices in here!
Thanks Kelly, its hard to try and battle the early darkness especially when its really dark because of the snow & rain but it will soon be spring!
With turkey or cheese, I know it would be fabulous! I remember how early it got dark in Scotland when my parents lived there. But that was when we visited in the summer! You’d have to make dinner for breakfast practically if you wanted to get natural light for photos. P.S. I think you did a great job with this relish!
Thanks Liz, the weather in Scotland is a law unto itself! Parts of it never get dark in summer but never gets light in winter. It can be hard work trying to get food photographs after midday in winter and almost impossible if it’s raining because it’s dark all day. But we keep going for the love of it 😀
Very festive and I bet it tastes amazing too, Emma.
Thank you Angie 🙂