Cranberries are healthy for us—they are high in antioxidants, low in calories and high in vitamins C, A and K. The versatile gems take over my focus in the kitchen each fall. We love to preserve, bake and craft with cranberries.

One unique way that I preserve cranberries is to make them into a shrub, also known as a “drinking vinegar”. Shrubs are essentially a simple syrup made with fruit and a sweetener, mixed with vinegar. The fruity acidic vinegar blend is then enjoyed with water or bubbly water. I prefer to mix my shrub with raw apple cider vinegar (ACV) to gain the benefits of the probiotics in the ACV.

Typically, when I make shrubs, I do not cook the fruit because the freshness of the raw fruit shines through but in this situation, I prefer to apply heat to speed the process along.

Cranberry Shrub

Yield: 2.5 cups finished shrub

Ingredients

2 cups fresh cranberries

1.5 cups white granulated sugar

1 cup orange juice

To finish off after making syrup: about 1.5 cups raw organic apple cider vinegar (or other drinking vinegar of choice).

Directions

Rinse cranberries, remove any white or damaged berries and stems. In a medium sized saucepan, bring the cranberries, sugar and orange juice to a simmer. Simmer until the berries begin to pop and cook and become soft and deflated. Stir often. The syrup will become bright red once it’s ready to strain. Keep an eye on the pot as it simmers – it is a syrup and could bubble over if you aren’t carefully watching.

Once the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is made, use a fine mesh strainer to strain out the solids, collecting the cranberry syrup in a heat tolerant measuring cup. Use a spoon to stir out the syrup. Double strain for a cleaner syrup (optional).

Once strained, allow the syrup to cool slightly, then measure the amount of cranberry syrup that was collected and add that same amount of vinegar to the syrup (it will be about 1-1.5 cups of vinegar), stir well to mix.

Store in a clean canning jar with lid tightened on and refrigerate. Enjoy within a few months for the best flavor.

To serve

Mix about a shot (2 ounces) of the shrub mixture with about 6 ounces of water, or carbonated water. Serve over ice. Shrubs also make tasty and unique cocktail mixers. This bright red shrub is perfect to serve at holiday gatherings.

Side notes

You can also use brown sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup or other sugar alternatives in place of white granulated sugar for this recipe.

You can mix your shrub with any vinegar of your choice. Red wine vinegar is another great option for this cranberry shrub.

This method of shrub making can be applied to any fruit and herb combinations. Consider adding orange zest, ground cinnamon or rosemary while simmering this syrup.

Don’t toss the strained-out fruit solids! They are delicious mixed into plain yogurt, oatmeal, or blended into a smoothie.

This recipe was adapted from WECK Small-Batch Preserving (2018) with permission from Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

Stephanie Thurow is the author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving, WECK Home Preserving and co-author of Small-Scale Homesteading. She is a certified master food preserver, master gardener, writer and traditional living skills instructor. Find her online: @minnesotafromscratch 

Photo credit: Stephanie Thurow