It’s the final countdown to turkey time, so Tom and I decided to break out some vintage recipes to test!
These are Frosted Cranberry Squares!
AuthorRetroRuth
From Mr.s Lorry L Mudge, Better Homes & Gardens, November 1965
Tested Recipe!
[cooked-sharing]
Drain pineapple, reserving syrup. Add water to syrup to make 1 cup; heat until mixture is boiling. Dissolve gelatin in hot liquid; cool. Gently stir in ginger ale; chill until partially set.
Meanwhile, blend drained pineapple and cranberry sauce; fold into gelatin mixture. Turn into 9x9x2 inch dish (*Ruth Notes: I used an 11x7 dish); chill till firm.
Prepare dessert topping according to package directions. Fold in cream cheese; spread over set gelatin.
Toast pecans in 1 T of butter or margarine in moderate oven (350 degrees) about 10 mins; sprinkle over top of the salad. Chill.
Yield: 9
Ingredients
Directions
Drain pineapple, reserving syrup. Add water to syrup to make 1 cup; heat until mixture is boiling. Dissolve gelatin in hot liquid; cool. Gently stir in ginger ale; chill until partially set.
Meanwhile, blend drained pineapple and cranberry sauce; fold into gelatin mixture. Turn into 9x9x2 inch dish (*Ruth Notes: I used an 11x7 dish); chill till firm.
Prepare dessert topping according to package directions. Fold in cream cheese; spread over set gelatin.
Toast pecans in 1 T of butter or margarine in moderate oven (350 degrees) about 10 mins; sprinkle over top of the salad. Chill.
Yield: 9
Notes
These are doubly appropriate for us, since we are from Michigan and the recipes author, Mrs. Lorry L. Mudge, was from The D!
It isn’t Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce shaped like a can!
Especially at our house. Tom loves cranberry sauce. Loves it! So I usually make a giant, towering, shuddering cranberry gelatin mold every Thanksgiving. Normally I serve canned sauce along with a homemade one. I just buy fresh cranberries, cook them down and add them to some raspberry gelatin or plain gelatin and then go to town with apples and oranges, so I thought this would be a fun change because it has lemon and pineapple in it.
And, you know, cream cheese. Because cream cheese.
Not attractive!
But that’s okay, because these get frosted with a lovely poof of white.
Wait…that’s too much poof.
So, I think I might have made too much topping for this. The recipe calls for a 2 ounce package of dessert topping, and a box of Dream Whip mix weighs 2.4 ounces and holds two envelopes of topping mix. I tried to be accurate to the weight measurement and so I made both envelopes, but I don’t think you need them.
I was scraping off topping when Tom caught me.
“Wait, what are you doing?”
“This is too much topping.”
“What!?! It’s just fine!”
“It doesn’t need this much.”
“It ALWAYS needs that much.”
It’s too much.
Also, if you are planning on making this for Thanksgiving, make it the night before. The piece above I cut four hours after I made it.
This piece was cut after it chilled overnight, and it is a big difference!
And I still think there is too much topping, but Tom was very excited.
“This is so good.”
“Ha! Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“I love cranberry sauce, and this is like cranberry sauce on the next level. It’s like cranberry crack.”
“I don’t think I can use ‘cranberry crack’ as the verdict.”
“Do it.”
The Verdict: Cranberry Crack
From The Tasting Notes –
Excellent. The cranberry gelatin is good even on its own. It’s sweet, flavorful and the ginger ale gives it a little bubbly kick at the end that was really fun. But with the topping??? It was over the top good. Even the crunchy nuts on top added a great texture. It went straight past dinner and into the dessert category. Plop a piece of pumpkin pie on top of this and people won’t even care about eating the turkey.
So funny–I was thinking, as I got to the end of the write-up, that this dish sounded so much like 1965. I had missed that noteworthy description at the top of the page until I came back through here after reading No Pattern Required. This was the time of dream-whip and jello salads. Salad being used in the very loosest of terms.
LOL Cranberry Crack! So now i’m curious about YOUR jello recipe you make with cranberries in raspberry jello with orange? It sounds really good!
Hi Brie! That’s pretty much the recipe! 🙂 I just cook the cranberries according to the directions on the package, add a 3 oz box of raspberry gelatin, stir until dissolved and then add a chopped apple (or two), a chopped fresh orange and about 1/4 cup of fresh orange juice and some orange zest. It is really good! And if you like it sweet, you can add sugar when you are cooking the cranberries.
I do the same as you Ruth, and I add either golden or regular raisins as well! Everyone is always eating it for breakfast the next day, and with yogurt for snacks.
My family has had this as long as I can remember for any holiday. I still make for my husband and girls. We just leave off the nuts. Why you say? Because I live with enough nuts. Lol. Thank you people thought I was just making this dish up.
I actually have the newspaper clipping of this recipe that has been handed down for at least 4 generations. I love it and always have. I remember my great grandma making it and helping my grandma and mom make it as I was older.
My mom has made this as long as I can remember!! I grew up in Michigan and this was served as a side. I currently live in Virginia and it is considered a dessert! Either way, I love it!
We love this and couldn’t have Thanksgiving without it! We always add a chopped apple or two. It is the first Thanksgiving leftover to get all eaten! I’ll have to try it with the orange the above comment recommends! Everyone wants the recipe and the tradition continues! Love seeing it!
One of the ladies at my former church made this. The recipe she gave is exactly the same, except Mildred didn’t toast the almonds. So goooood…..