Spiced Cranberry Rum Sauce

This Spiced Cranberry Rum sauce is straight up Christmas. Cinnamon. Cloves. Allspice. Cardamom. A hint of orange. And Rum! Stock your pantry while cranberries are fresh and cheap and get yourself ready for the holiday with this DIY holiday gift.

If you are looking for more holiday recipes for gift-giving, try this red pepper and chilli jam or this super easy apple pie jelly. Both are perfect for sharing!

It's a bit early for this post, but its canning season and I tend to get a little excited.

This Spiced Cranberry Rum Sauce smells and tastes just like Christmas. It is bright and tangy with all the holiday spices - cinnamon, cardamon, allspice and cloves. It smells so good while it is simmering.

You will want to have some of this on hand for the holidays. And since Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, I try to have some ready by then too. This cranberry rum sauce makes a lovely small holiday gift for friends, co-workers. Its a nice hostess gift.

Serve, of course, on the holiday table with all the fixing. But it also makes an amazing appetizer. Try it over warmed brie or serve on a cheese platter with a sharp cheddar or creamy goat cheese.

Preparing Jars for Canning. Sterlize canning jars

• wash them well with hot soapy water, rinse and dry. You can sterilize the jars by placing them in a 225 degree oven for at least 10 minutes. For this recipe, I get the jars cleaned and in the oven before I start simmering the fruit. That way I know they will be ready when I'm ready. It’s okay for the jars to hang out in the hot oven until you are ready for them. This is my prefered method.
• You can also sterlize the jars if you have a santize function on your dishwasher.
• Or by placing them in the canning kettle, with water about ⅔s the way up the sides of the jars and bringing them to a boil for a few minutes.
• while you are here, washing jars, wash the snap lids and rings (sometimes called bands) as well. Rinse them well. Just as you are getting ready to fill the jars - maybe while the cranberry rum sauce is simmering, place both the lids and rings in a small pot or heat proof bowl and cover them with hot water. I use my kettle to boil water and pour it over them. Then just let them hang out in the hot water until I am ready for them.

If you are new to waterbath canning, please see this post for some of the equipment you will need. Its not expensive to get started, you probably have most of what you need already.

Step-by-step waterbath canning process

Remove foam

For best results, once the sauce has boiled for the second time, remove from heat and stir and stir. This will bring some of the foam to the surface. Scoop off the foam as your stir. This will take 2-3 minutes.

• At this point, your waterbath canner has been on the heat and is simmering. Remove the lid and lift the canning rack, if you have one, using the side rests of the rack to suspend the rack over the hot simmering water.

Fill one jar at a time

• Fill each jar leaving ¼ inch head space at the top of the jar.

• Wipe the rim with a clean towel or papper towel, place the snap lid on top of the jar rim and secure the band. Tighen the band only to finger tip tight.

• Place filled and closed jar onto the rack over the water bath canner.

• If the last jar cannot be filled properly to ¼ inch headspace, close it up like the others, but do not process it in the waterbath. Store it in the refrigerator and use that first.

Process jars in a waterbath canner

• Once all the jars are filled, lower the jar rack into the canner, cover, and bring to a boil. This can take 10-15 minutes.

• When the canner starts to boil, remove the lid if you must to check to see if it is boiling, replace and lid and start the timer.

• Process in a waterbath for 10 minutes. Do not remove the lid during processing time.

• At the end of the processing time. Turn of the heat and allow the kettle to come down in temperature for 5 minutes. Remove lid and carefully lift jar rack up and again suspend over the kettle.

Let the jars rest and seal

• Carefully remove each jar with oven mitts or a jar lifter and gently place on a towel covered surface where the jars will not be distrubed for 24 hours.

• As the jars cool you should hear an audible pop! as the jars seal.

• After 24 hours, any unsealed jars should be refrigerated. You can check that the jars sealed properly as the lids should be slightly indented on top of each jars. They will feel solid with no wiggle. If the jars wiggle slightly when you press them, they did not seal properly. The contents are safe, place this jar in the refrigerator and eat in the next 5-6 weeks.