Cranberry Shrub

We blog about this recipe here.

Cranberry Shrub

Servings: Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 qts
Print

Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz. Because I like to have plenty of shrub on hand I have upped the ingredients from the original recipe by a factor of four; and in lieu of the allspice berries called for in Lebovitz’s version I use cinnamon sticks.

4 C water
9 C (about 2 lbs) fresh or frozen cranberries
3 C sugar
4 cinnamon sticks (or other preferred spice)
4 C good quality apple cider vinegar such as Bragg organic

In a large saucepan, heat the water, cranberries, sugar and cinnamon until the mixture starts to boil. Reduce the heat and cook at a very gentle simmer until the cranberries are completely soft, about 5 or 6 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour the cranberry mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, gently pushing on the cooked cranberries to release as much liquid as possible without pressing any solids through the sieve. (Note: the residual cranberry pulp makes a tasty cranberry sauce)..

Add the vinegar to the cranberry mixture and stir. Transfer the shrub into bottles or jars, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use (to allow the flavors to fully develop, I generally let the shrub sit for about 3 weeks). The shrub mixture can be kept for several months in the refrigerator.

To make a festive nonalcoholic drink fill a glass halfway with ice and top with 1 part shrub base and 5 parts sparkling or tonic water. Stir once. Garnish with a cinnamon stick (optional). Or you can kick it up a notch or two by adding a splash of gin or vodka.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.