When it comes to holiday feasts, my family passes on the cranberry sauce. Although the contrasting tart-sweet flavor component makes sense to cleanse your palate between all the savory bites, we’ve never really bothered with it for some reason. So when I had my mother and brother in town for Thanksgiving, it came as no surprise that the bag of cranberries sat in the back of fridge well past November 24th.

A week or so later I decided to make a syrup with the forgotten cranberries, a clamshell of raspberries on their last legs and the leftover herbs from our Thanksgiving meal. The end result was so layered and complex, I’ve been using the stuff nonstop ever since! I add it to espresso and cocoa powder in to make cran-raspberry mochas, mix it into salad dressings, drizzle it over butternut squash soup and (obviously) shake it into cocktails. I’ve mixed it up with gin and lemon juice, bourbon and a touch of sweet vermouth, and splashed it into Champagne, but this festive cranberry Mule might be my favorite application yet!

Cranberry Mule. Makes 1.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz your favorite vodka (mine here)
• 1 oz cranberry syrup recipe to follow
• Llanyllr Source ginger ale to top
• Fresh mint and cranberries to garnish, optional

for the cranberry syrup: in a small saucepan combine 1 bag of cranberries, 1 small clamshell of raspberries, 1/3 cup of sugar, a handful of mint and 3 sprigs each, thyme and rosemary over medium-low heat. Let simmer for 30 minutes or so, splashing in some water if it becomes too thick. Continue adding water until a syrupy consistency forms and almost all the cranberries have popped. Let cool for a few minutes, remove hearty herb stems and then blend for two minutes in a Vitamix or food processor. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to one week. This will be much thicker than your usual simple syrup.

Directions:

1. In a cocktail shaker combine vodka and cranberry syrup and shake over ice until thoroughly combined, 5-10 seconds
2. Strain into a tumbler over fresh ice; Top with ginger ale
3. Garnish as desired and enjoy!
   

Notes:

Thanks to the Llanyllr team for sending over a few samples!

{ Photos by Lindsey Marie }

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