Agave Cranberry Sauce

Agave Cranberry Sauce~ Since I have a massive sweet tooth (I know I always say this), I look forward to all things sweet at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Sometimes I just like to pretend it’s a holiday, most everyday in fact, so that I have an excuse to serve dessert.  Unlike Christmas, Thanksgiving became a new holiday for me when I arrived from Peru at the age of eleven. I didn’t quite understand the concept then, although it was all turkey and cranberry sauce talk at school.  I didn’t stick with the turkey but I sure stuck with the cranberry sauce.  Only downside to this tangy delight is that I always felt dizzy after eating it.  After gobbling it down actually.   So, I found a solution to the sugar and one where I now don’t feel like running circles around the house then crashing at the end of the meal feeling like a pile of laundry.   This cranberry sauce is also low-glycemic since it is made with agave.  Good good all around.

agave-cranberry sauce

Ingredients

• 1 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries well rinsed (pick out any dried up cranberries)
• 1/3 cup of fresh apple cider
• 1/2 cup of orange juice
• 2 tablespoons of orange zest
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 large dried figs cut into small squares  (you can substitute with dried apricots)
• 1/2 cup of agave plus more for extra sweet
• 1/3 teaspoon of cardamom powder

Instructions

1. In medium size pot, combine all ingredients.  Cook to a simmer over medium heat and then turn heat to low.  Cover pot and let cook another 20 minutes until all the cranberries have popped.
2. Check and stir during the cooking time so that mixture won’t stick to bottom of pan.  Taste for sweetness and add more agave if you would like.  There is a certain amount of bitterness that you will taste from fresh cranberries and this is normal.  What you want to do is make sure you have enough of the other ingredients where the bitter is not the predominant part of the sauce but rather the lovely natural taste that you know is there and that you were able to balance out.
3. Once you are satisfied with the taste, add the orange zest and stir.
4. Take out cinnamon stick and transfer sauce to a cooling bowl.
5. Cover bowl and either refrigerate if you made this the day before or just cover for a few hours until you are ready to use.  Stir before serving and enjoy!  Serves 10