I know it looks like we’re drinking like fish over here, but seriously, we aren’t. I mean, we were, and we probably will again, but we aren’t just now. However, I would like to share this cranberry gin fizz recipe with you because it is super pretty and would be an ideal sitting-on-the-sideboard-during-a-party companion to your eggnog for New Year’s. My taste testers loved this drink. It takes a little prep work, but it isn’t hard.
Cranberry Gin Fizz (adapted from Creative Culinary)
Yield: about 8 drinks
Ingredients:
1-1/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 cup water
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 lemon, thinly sliced in half-moon shapes
1 orange, thinly sliced in half-moon shapes
Dry gin (amount to taste)
Ginger ale (amount to taste)
Instructions:
Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce to a simmer and add the cranberries. Simmer just until a few begin to burst, about 3-5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the syrup cool with the cranberries in it. Strain out the cranberries and reserve them in a separate container.
In a large bowl, combine the cranberry syrup, about half of the cranberries, and the lemon and orange slices. With a muddler or a potato masher, smash the fruit until it releases most of its juice. Let the mixture sit for about a half hour, then strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve, squeezing the fruit to get the most out of it. Pour the syrup into a pitcher.
To serve, add ice to each glass. Add gin to taste, then pour in syrup and ginger ale to taste. Garnish with a few of the intact cranberries.
Note: these amounts may seem nebulous, but I found the proportions in the original recipe to be very strange and we enjoyed making our own drinks to taste.
