Cranberry Sauce for Cheesecake

I'm being dragged to a Thanksgiving Day dinner with a friend, and am taking along a cheesecake. I wanted to make a topping for it, and in the theme of the day, why not make it with cranberries?

  • 1.5 cups water
  • 1.5 cups sugar
  • 3 tbsps corn starch
  • Juice from 2 oranges
  • Juice from 2 lemons
  • 1 14.5 oz can cranberry sauce (I used the one with whole berries)
  • 2 tbsps vodka
  • 5 dashes Regan's Orange Bitters
  • 2 tbsps butter
  • More sugar, to taste

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the water, sugar, corn starch and citrus juices (if you don't want lumps, shake the water and corn starch together in a jar first). Stir over heat until you have syrup. In another bowl, plop out your cranberry sauce and stir to losen it up and break up any big chunks of gel. Add to the syrup.

Continue stirring, reducing the heat to low, until it becomes thick. Add the vodka, bitters and butter, stirring until the butter is totally melted and incorporated. Taste, and add more sugar to your liking.

Not sure how I feel about it, although it does remind me of a tart cherry sauce. We'll see tomorrow how well it goes with cheesecake.