A Cranberry Experience
The magic ingredient
Parties and alcohol are two of a kind. Alcohol has this intimate relationship with parties that no other beverage could fill—any party person knows that. For kids, chocolate smoothie infused with cranberries is enough for them to go wild. For adults, cranberry vodka punch! The magic ingredient, if it isn't obvious enough, is cranberry. You can't have a party without alcohol in the same way vodka doesn't taste like true vodka without cranberry.
Here are couple of recipes for berry chocolate smoothie and cranberry vodka punch.
Recipe for berry chocolate smoothie
Ingredients:
2 cups cranberry juice cocktail, chilled
2 ½ cups frozen strawberries
1 cup strawberry yogurt
¼ cup chocolate chips
2 tbsp powdered sugar
Directions:
This is easy. Put all ingredients, except the chocolate chips, into a food processor and spin on the highest setting. Then add the chips and pulse blend until desired consistency is reached. Pour into glasses. Serve immediately.
Recipe for cranberry vodka punch
Ingredients:
16 oz fresh cranberries
1 ½ cups vodka (a cheap one is fine)
¾ cup water
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ orange peel
½ lime or lemon peel
Optional:
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1 stick cinnamon
You'll need:
1 ½ liters sealable jar
a large funnel
paper towel
1 sheet cheese cloth
apple peeler
bottles
Directions:
Clean the jar. You'll be using it for your cranberry vodka punch to settle, so any lingering odor from the last time you used the jar needs to go. Boiling water is effective.
Transfer the cranberries into a food processor and set to blend on the lowest setting. Continue until the mixture has reached the consistency of grits, then pour into a jar. Make sure everything was done up nicely as a whole berry won't be doing anything for the taste.
Take the apple peeler and carefully peel the rind from the oranges and lime. Leave the white piths behind, and proceed to put the peels into the cranberry mixture in the jar. Then pour in the vodka. It's also time to add the optional spices into the mix if you're using them.
Next boil some water and sugar. Wait for the sugar to dissolve, let it stand for a minute, then pour 1 ½ cups of it into the jar and seal quickly. Store in a dark place. Allow to settle for four weeks, shaking the jar lightly each day.
When the steeping time is up, take out the jar and proceed to line the funnel with the cheese cloth. Pour the mixture into the cloth, then squeeze as hard as you can to get the solids out. Pour the mixture again through the funnel, but this time using a paper towel as filter.
Finally transfer the mixture into bottles. They don't have to be pretty bottles, though a delectable presentation is always a plus.
So there you go, cranberry vodka!
More cranberry-infused drinks
Cranberries are a favorite among social drinkers. There are thousands of cranberry juice recipes out on the Internet, including Crameretto, Absolut Royalty, Fishbowl, Barney on Acid, Medusa Punch, Mexican Cosmopolitan and Jackie Cran. Go wild with cranberry drinks.
You just covered two of the most popular cranberry-infused drinks around. Serve them on your next party and give everyone—kids and adults alike—the cranberry experience of a lifetime.
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