Spiced Cranberry Simple Syrup

This homemade Spiced Cranberry Simple Syrup is easy to make, made with fresh cranberries and spices, and is the perfect addition to your holiday cocktails and mocktails. Our favorite way to use this festive simple syrup is to make cranberry-flavored martinis, margaritas, and mimosas. We also like to add it to sparkling water or club soda as a mocktail, as shown in the above photo. Y’all are going to love this simple homemade syrup.

🍶 What is Simple Syrup?

It’s a liquefied form of sugar that is commonly used to sweeten cocktails and cold beverages. It’s also known as sugar syrup because, as a liquid sugar, it is much easier to blend into cold drinks than regular sugar and is made with equal parts of sugar and water. The ratio of sugar and water is 1:1. The mixture is simmered for around 10 minutes until the liquid has reduced to half its original volume. Therefore, with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar, the mixture would simmer down to about 1 cup. Simple syrup can be kept for up to 2 weeks if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

🍊 Ingredients

To make this cranberry-flavored simple syrup with a kick of spice, you will need a few ingredients along with fresh cranberries, which are in season from October to January. Here are all the ingredients you will need to make this easy recipe.

• Fresh Cranberries. Or you can use Frozen Cranberries if fresh ones are not in season.

• Fresh Orange Juice and Orange Peel. We add the juice of one Cara Cara Orange and the peel. This adds a nice flavor to the tart cranberries as they break down and release their juices.

• Cane Sugar. Or you can substitute it with granulated white sugar. We use cane sugar in our homemade syrup as it has more flavor than white sugar.

• Water.

• Cinnamon Sticks. We used 5 cinnamon sticks for that spiced flavor.

• Fresh Ginger. We used fresh ginger when boiling the mixture to release a touch of heat. If you only have ginger powder, you can add 1/2 tsp to the pot instead.

🥣 Instructions

The steps for making homemade sugar syrup are easy. All you need to make it is a small saucepan, a wooden spoon or spatula, a fine mesh strainer, a bowl, and a glass bottle to store it.

• Simmer Ingredients. Add all ingredients to a saucepan over medium-high heat and give it a good stir. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and reduce heat to simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes until the cranberries burst and release their juices.

• Cool Mixture. After simmering, turn off the heat and allow the syrup to steep for at least 10 minutes for the spiced cranberry flavor to develop.

• Strain Mixture. Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and carefully strain the cranberry syrup. Remove the cinnamon sticks, orange peel, and ginger, and gently press down on the cranberries to allow the juices to push through.

• Enjoy. Carefully transfer the homemade cranberry syrup to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

FAQs

This Spiced Cranberry Simple Syrup is easy to make and has a sweet cranberry flavor. It’s the perfect simple syrup to add to winter cocktails, mocktails, and holiday drinks. We hope you all love our make-ahead flavored syrup for all your festive drinks. Enjoy! ♡

Festive Drinks to Make

You can make several homemade cocktails and mocktails using this simple cranberry syrup. Here are some ideas to get you going.

• Cranberry Margaritas
• Cranberry Mimosa
• Christmas Old Fashioned with Cranberries
• Homemade Sodas made with Cranberry and Ginger Beer
• Cranberry Flavored Seltzer Water