Happy Holidays, everyone! Today I am going to kick-start a little feature that many people are doing right now, home made edible Christmas/Holiday gifts. Check out Emily’s gift guide for an elegant gift under $100, Jenny’s guide for everyone on your list, or Marisa’s guide for someone like, oh you know, yours truly. I have been working on my list of items for a few weeks now, and have my list now complete. I am now in the process of creating each of these items to feature here. The first item on my list is a tart and ruby-red cranberry syrup. I knew that I wanted to make the syrup this holiday season as soon as I saw it in Marisa’s book.
- 1 # fresh cranberries
- 3 cups warm water
- 2 cups sugar
- Place cranberries and water in a stockpot and bring to a boil.
- Bring cranberries down to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes-until berries burst.
- Strain cranberries through a fine-mesh sieve.
- *Do not push down on the cranberries, this will create a cloudy syrup.
- Put cranberry juice back into the stockpot with the sugar.
- Boil for a few minutes, until all sugar is dissolved.
- Ladle into prepared jars and process 5 minutes.
This syrup is a great in a cocktail or in an Italian soda. I mixed 6 Tablespoons of this syrup with 10 oz. of club soda and a splash of fresh squeezed orange juice and it was delicately refreshing, sweet, and put me in the holiday spirit. Sealed in a jar and tied with a bow this syrup is a great gift this season, especially since it only takes a total of about 15 minutes to make, plus jar processing time.
