Sugared Cranberries and Rosemary

These Sugared Cranberries and Rosemary add a beautiful and festive touch to holiday cocktails and desserts. We love the contrast of red, white, and green that these have when used together, as they are the colors of the holiday season. Adding sugar to the tart cranberries and rosemary sprigs looks like fresh snow that fell on a wintery day in a forest. They are also known as candied because they are coated in a simple syrup and then tossed in granulated sugar.

Table of Contents

🍢 Ways to Garnish a Holiday Cocktail

There are several ways to garnish a holiday cocktail. Our favorite is using berries and herbs, like our sugared Cranberries and Rosemary. Other ways are to make Dried Citrus Rounds or peel Citrus into spirals. While you can eat dried citrus rounds, we typically don’t eat the others as they are mainly used to dress up your holiday cocktails.

steeping cranberries and rosemary in sugar water in a pot.

🍒 Ingredients

To make these festive garnishes, you will need a couple of simple ingredients, along with fresh cranberries and rosemary.

Fresh Cranberries. We don’t recommend using thawed frozen cranberries. You want sturdy cranberries for this recipe.

Fresh Sprigs of Rosemary. Be sure to use sturdy sprigs of vibrant fresh rosemary, and avoid using those starting to turn brown.

Sugar. You can use 2 different types of sugar in this recipe, such as cane sugar or granulated white sugar. Both work well. You will divide the sugar in half for this recipe, equal parts for the sugar syrup, and tossing and coat.

Water.

drying sugar coated cranberries and rosemary.

drying sugared cranberries and rosemary.

🥣 Instructions

These beautiful garnishes are easy to make and take only a few minutes of your time. While they need to dry for an hour, they can be made in advance for all your holiday recipes.

Make Simple Syrup. Add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring continuously until all the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside.

Coat Berries and Rosemary. Working in small batches, place Cranberries and Rosemary in the simple syrup and give it a gentle stir. Use a slotted spoon and transfer to a wire rack over parchment paper, or strain over a fine mesh sieve in the sink and then transfer to the wire rack. Spread cranberries and rosemary in an even, single layer to dry for about 10 minutes.

Toss with Sugar. Add the remaining 1 cup of sugar to a plate and add sugar-coated cranberries and rosemary. Use your hands and toss the sugar crystals to coat the cranberries and rosemary all over.

Dry & Enjoy. Carefully transfer rosemary sprigs and frosted cranberries to a wire rack with parchment paper underneath to continue drying, for about 1 hour, before using.

sugared rosemary and cranberries on a plate.

FAQs

How to store sugared rosemary and cranberries?

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Can you freeze candied cranberries?

We don’t recommend freezing candied cranberries as when they begin to thaw, they release extra moisture, the sugar dissolves, and they become mushy in texture.

Our favorite way to use these sugared cranberries and rosemary sprigs is as a cocktail garnish, on Christmas cakes as a beautiful addition, or on a charcuterie board for a tart snack. We hope you all love our recipe for adding a little sparkle to your holiday desserts. Enjoy! ♡