Monday, Dec. 3, 2012

Cran-Raspberry Juice

I’m sure by now everyone knows how excited I am about the Christmas holiday fast approaching.  I love this time of year-the excessive amounts of baking (and blogging!), lights shining, Christmas tree hunting (soon!), shopping and most importantly, time spent with family.  Gavin, Marlina and I are putting on Christmas dinner this year.  Although I am super excited by this, I am also really nervous.  I hope we are organized enough to pull this off!  Feel free to double this recipe if you are serving for a large crowd! :)

Cran-Raspberry is one of my all-time favourite drinks.  I tend to drink it a lot during the holiday season…I don’t know why!  I never get sick of it…so I was really excited when I found a basic recipe for cranberry juice that I could adapt and make it taste similar to the store bought variety.  I found this drink tasted best after a week sitting in the fridge-the flavour had developed more with time.  Of course, I was really impatient with this (tasting small amounts daily!) but thought it was well worth the wait.  That’s just my opinion though-the original recipe says you can serve it after it’s chilled.

Cran-Raspberry Juice

Makes just over 1 quart (5 cups)

INGREDIENTS

5 cups water

1 cup frozen raspberries

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

½ cup sugar

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup orange juice

DIRECTIONS

In a medium saucepan, bring together water, cranberries and raspberries over medium-high heat. Simmer for 20-30 minutes; or until the cranberries begin to pop. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil.

Strain with a fine mesh strainer, pressing the mixture with a spoon. Discard the berries and return the cran-rasperry juice to the pan. Add the sugar, lemon and orange juice to the pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Remove from heat. Transfer to an air-tight bottle (I used an old wine bottle) and cover. Refrigerate until chilled.

Best served after refrigerated for one week.

Source: adapted from Taste of Homes’ Best Holiday Recipes 2011