Cranberry-Orange Jell-O Mold

This is the one. This is the one.

I’ve tried and enjoyed a lot of cranberry relish preparations over the years. Several of them were good enough to secure places in my precious hand-copied recipe card files—I think of these as The Greats: Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish and Madhur Jaffrey’s Garlicky Cranberry Chutney, and the tried-and-true, raw “grind up a bunch of fresh cranberries, whole oranges, and pecans with some white sugar” chunky stuff, which always makes much more than anyone can finish before its freshness turns into, well, yuk (the pith from the chopped whole orange becomes makes it increasingly bitter the longer it sits).

But this Jell-O cranberry dish is my new keeper. I made it last year, and I made it again this year, and hey, it’s the bomb.

Here’s what it has going for it:

• Cranberry flavor and cranberry tartness, but not too much (cranberry relish’s purpose is to add brightness and zip to the heavy Thanksgiving meal, but you don’t want it to blow your hair back). (And yes, I personally like to sip unsweetened cranberry juice, but I wouldn’t inflict it on my loved ones. But I digress.)
• Powerful fresh orange flavor (which goes super well with the cranberry flavor).
• Sweetness (there, I said it; it’s sweet, which means everyone will like it, even children, and even those with the palate of a child, which on some level is everyone).
• Gelatin: you can make it as a single, larger mold or in individual molds, and it glistens with red and orange colors, so it’s pretty (not like the chunky raw cranberry relish, which just looks vomitous). Our brown-dominated Thanksgiving meal plates usually need more beautiful colors.
• Jell-O: it’s a retro recipe, so for those old enough to remember Great Aunt Lyddie’s midcentury Jell-O preparations, it will give you some warm fuzzies.

My recipe is based on something called “Cranberry Surprise,” in the Joys of Jell-O, 8th edition (apparently from 1960, but there’s not a copyright date on it), page 70. (This edition had two different covers, so do not get confused if you are looking to buy a used copy.)

“Cranberry Surprise”: what an awful, boring name. The original recipe allows you to swap out Jell-O flavors, so at some point you don’t have an actual recipe but more of an “idea.” . . . But I tell you, using orange Jell-O has to be the best option. So here you go.

Cranberry-Orange Jell-O Mold, a.k.a. Cranberry Surprise

This makes about 3½ cups (or seven ½-cup servings). So you may need to double it for your group, or if you want to have ample leftovers to go with your other Thanksgiving leftovers.

• 1 small/regular box orange Jell-O
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 1 can whole cranberries in sauce
• One orange:
• --zest from 1 orange (use a microplane grater; you want the zest, not the pith)
• --pulp from 1 orange (finely chopped, including all the juices; sharpen your knife, because you get bonus points for taking care to remove all bitter pith and membrane)

Dissolve the Jell-O in water. Stir in the can of cranberries, breaking it up. Add the orange zest, chopped orange pulp, and juices. Pour into prepared molds (follow standard tips for molding and unmolding Jell-O).

This is a great use for vintage small Jell-O molds, if you have them. You can also make small individual molds using little teacups, small ramekins, juice glasses, shot glasses, etc. Or, you can pour the mixture into the can that the cranberries came in, and use that as your mold; then, unmold it and slice. Or, you can gel it in a rectangular Pyrex dish and cut into cubes for serving. Or pass the big dish and let people dip theirs out with a spoon. Nobody’s judging you.

Can you use canned mandarin orange slices and juices? I guess so . . . but it wouldn’t be as fresh and good. The Thanksgiving table has precious few fresh fruits on it, and I know your guests will appreciate the extra effort to use the pulp from a fresh orange.

Can you add chopped nuts? No. Yuk! Gross, just no. I forbid it! What are you thinking? Nuts are for cookies and muffins. Keep them out of your Jell-O and ice cream!

Finally, for fun, and to spoof all the cooking blogs that have a picture of every little frickin’ step in the preparation, I’m including photos of alllllll the steps: “This is what 3/4 of a cup of water looks like”; “here’s what a gas burner looks like when it’s turned on”; “here’s what boiling water looks like”; etc. I hope you enjoy it!

. . . Yep, after you've zested and chopped your orange, you have to get yer can of cranberry sauce. I don't know why they package it upside down. Who the heck has an upside-down can opener?

Dump the canned cranberry sauce into your carefully, lovingly chopped orange, zest, and juices.

Mash it together with a fork. See?

This is what 3/4 of a cup of water looks like, in a 1-cup measuring cup. Eyeball it very carefully. We don't fool around here at the Opulent Opossum!

Now we're cookin' with gas! If you have BTUs like I do, that little bit of water will be boiling in no time!

Ye olde box of orange Jell-O. Did you know Jell-O was the longtime sponsor of the Jack Benny radio show? Also, did you know that you can hear nearly all the old Jack Benny radio shows on YouTube? They have special uploads that have just a black screen, you can listen to them at night, like in the olden days.

Here's another critical step you need a picture of: Open. The. Box. Of. Jell-O. And. Remove. The. Inner. Pouch.

Boil that 3/4 cup of water. I use an old Revere Ware percolator coffee pot.

You gotta stir that Jell-O powder and boiling water together for a few minutes to get it to dissolve. (You didn't know that already???)

You knew this was going to happen: You stir the orange stuff, cranberry sauce, and dissolved Jell-O all together.

Time to get out your dainty little Jell-O molds, teacups, ramekins, or whatever, if you're using them. You might wish to spray them with a bit of PAM or equivalent, which helps the unmolding. But I'm not here to give you Jell-O unmolding tips. You'll have to find that elsewhere.

Now, aren't they pretty? Note that I didn't fill them all the way, because I know my people won't want a large serving. For us, it's better to have more, smaller molds with the option for having seconds.

Put them suckers into the fridge overnight. To transfer them, it helps to use a tray, especially if your kitchen fridge is busted, like ours is, and you have to carry them downstairs to your second, beer-and-soda fridge.

Don't forget the inevitable: clean it up, or it'll turn into epoxy and you'll need to soak your dishes in hot water. Don't say I didn't warn you!