quel autumnal treat. cranberries get their tough skins popped with boiling water, then surrender their color and tart cranberry flavor to a bottle of vodka. the result is delicious, and absolutely beautiful.
cranberry-infused vodka
1 pint fresh cranberries
750 ml vodka (we used finlandia-- guy at the liquor store said it's best for infusions)
big ol' jar with tight-fitting lid
wash cranberries and remove any stems and leaves. in a large bowl, cover the berries with boiling water in order to pop the skins. they even make a popping sound!
drain the berries and put them in a jar big enough to hold 750 ml of vodka. pour in the booze. cover with tight-fitting lid, swish around, and let sit in a dark spot for about 3 weeks. taste periodically.
this is the color after 23 days. so lovely!
line a colander with two layers of cheesecloth and position it over a large bowl, preferably with a pour spout. i used my 4-cup measuring bowl. strain vodka and pour it into a clean bottle for storing.
i was serious about it being tart! this has a ton of cranberry awesomeness, but it needs a little something sweet added to any cocktail you make with it. i've imagined muddled sweet orange and a sprinkle of cinnamon, maybe a dash of simple syrup, but haven't tried anything yet. i gave half of this batch to rob's sister-- she's an adventurous cocktail mixer, so i'm hoping she'll come up with something great and tell me about it!
cranberries from eatonville farms
Yum! Gorgeous color! I love boozy infusions. I'm trying to decide what to do this year. We did limoncello, arancello, grapefruit vodka and cranberry-orange vodka last year. I won't get so overzealous this year...but want to make something!
ReplyDeletemmm, those sound fantastic. limoncello and arancello would be totally fun!
ReplyDeleteexcuse me while I go make this.
ReplyDeleteI tried it and it worked perfectly. Thank you so much for sharing this!
ReplyDeletehttp://natemaggio.tumblr.com/post/2555624631/holiday-vodka-my-first-experiment
yay, nate, glad it worked! your gift tags are fantastic, btw-- i do love a good 110 lb stock.
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