Festive Cranberry & Orange Gin

I love giving homemade gifts to friends and family. This is a recipe I have made for many years to give to friends who have just about everything. I keep some for myself as well.

Equipment:

A clean, 1-litre wide-mouth jar with a lid

Potato peeler

Ingredients:

1 punnet of cranberries

1 large orange (rind only)

150g granulated sugar. You can add more sugar if you like it sweeter.

1 700ml bottle of gin, any gin

Method:

Clean and dry your jar.

Rinse your cranberries and prick them all over or use a knife to cut them in half.

Use the potato peeler to remove the orange rind from the orange.

Put all the ingredients into the jar with the gin. Put the lid on tight, leave for 10 days.

Shake it occasionally. Add the sugar and then stir every day so it dissolves.

Dispense into pretty bottles without the fruit.

Serve:

Over ice with tonic water. My favourite is Clementine tonic. Please drink responsibly!

This is a two-in-one recipe! I don’t waste the soaked cranberries and orange peel. I cut the orange peel into thin slivers and pop them in a pan with the cranberries, turning them into cranberry sauce with the addition of a little water or orange juice. Sweeten to taste. The alcohol burns off, but you could add some of the gin before serving.