Give Your Cranberry Sauce A Boozy Kick With This Liquor

Cranberry sauce is the pièce de résistance of any Thanksgiving spread. Sweet and tart, it deepens the flavor profile of Thanksgiving meats (and sides) and also doubles as the perfect spread for a turkey leftover sandwich — provided you store and reheat the turkey without drying it out, or as a dipping sauce for Giada De Laurentiis' turkey bites. It's also wonderfully simple to make: Just boil sugar and water, add cranberries, and voila — you've got yourself the perfect Thanksgiving side.

For those of you looking to add a twist or experiment with new flavor combinations, you could make a basil cranberry sauce, or (for the grown-ups) add a splash of liquor to elevate this dish to new heights. One spirit in particular is sure to get you feeling the autumnal spirit of this holiday: bourbon. To find out more, Food Republic spoke with Michele Di Pietro, chef, cookbook author, and culinary consultant.

"Bourbon is a great option since it's characteristically American, as is the Thanksgiving holiday," Di Pietro told us. That sentiment rings true — bourbon was officially declared a distinctive product of the United States in 1964. Its production process, which involves aging it for two years in charred oak barrels and being made up of a minimum of 51% corn (a crop native to the Americas), makes it a truly homegrown spirit. As Di Pietro explained, "Its rich, subtle flavor and sweet, spicy and caramel notes complement tart cranberries and help to cut through their bitterness a bit."

For the best bourbon cranberry sauce, timing and balance are everything. Bourbon has a bold flavor that can easily overpower the sauce if you're not careful. According to Michele Di Pietro, the ideal ratio to follow is "one cup [of] bourbon for every pound of cranberries."

Di Pietro offered her own bourbon cranberry sauce recipe, which incorporates bourbon, sugar, water, and orange juice alongside nuts, apples, and candied fruits for a little extra punch. The bourbon should be simmered with the water, sugar, and orange juice before the cranberries are added, she explained.

Alcohol is a volatile ingredient — if you're not careful, it can ignite! This works to your advantage if you're looking to flambé to add flavor and some chef-style flair to a dish, but it's not exactly what you want when making an infused cranberry sauce. To avoid accidents, "Turn the heat off before adding the bourbon or hold the pan away from any open flame (as with a gas stovetop)," Di Pietro told us. Another key tip to remember is to make sure you've cooked off some of the alcohol before serving, like if you're making coq au vain or beef bourgeon. Although it won't make you drunk, you still don't want the sauce to taste like raw alcohol. "Be sure to taste test it before turning the heat off," Di Pietro told us. "If the sauce needs to simmer a bit longer but is getting thick, just add a little bit of water or some additional orange juice to the pan."

Bourbon isn't the only liquor that can make your cranberry sauce feel a bit more festive. According to Michele Di Pietro, "Lots of different liqueurs work well in the cranberry sauce format because their signature flavors end up being subtle and not overpowering."

When adding new liquors to your cranberry sauce, the same rules apply as when adding bourbon: Just simmer your chosen alcohol in with the water and sugar before adding in your cranberries. "My favorites are orange liqueurs, such as Triple Sec or Cointreau as orange is a natural flavor marriage with cranberries," Di Pietro explained. If you're looking to go down the traditional Thanksgiving route, you could also experiment using rich liquors like Chambord for a dark berry depth that pairs perfectly with the tart cranberries, or amaretto for a subtle nutty sweetness that'll be sure to get you in the holiday mood.

There are also plenty of other liqueurs to expand your cranberry sauces out of the realm of Thanksgiving, making them an all-year-round dish. For a tropical Caribbean-inspired piña colada cranberry sauce, "Rum works really well ... when paired with pineapple juice and shredded coconut," Di Pietro said. For an Italian-riviera vibe, "Aperol and prosecco elevate plain cranberry sauce to an afternoon aperitivo," she added.