turbinado sugar - Girl & Tonic

Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails | The Best Use for Leftover Cranberry Sauce

by corrie.pennington / November 23, 2020

If you have leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving, this cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails is the perfect use for it. It’s an easy syrup recipe made with red wine, cranberry sauce, turbinado sugar, cloves, and cinnamon.

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One of the best parts about Thanksgiving are the leftovers. But all the other leftovers run out long before the cranberry sauce does. Instead of tossing out that tart and sweet goodness, try using it in your cocktails.

You can definitely use it as is in a drink. Just sub it in for jam in a Jam Cocktail. Or take it up a notch and make this decadent cranberry red wine reduction. It’s sweet– very sweet– with amazing complexity and warmth to it. It tastes phenomenal with whiskey cocktails and also with gin. You could even use it in place of red wine in a New York Sour for added sweetness.

A cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails is the perfect use for leftover cranberry sauce. It's an easy syrup recipe made with red wine, cranberry sauce, turbinado sugar, cloves, and cinnamon.

Ingredients for a Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails

1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup cranberry sauce (whole or jellied)
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 cardamom pods

How to Make a Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the syrup has reduced. Pour into a small lidded container, using a strainer to strain out the spices and any cranberry pieces. You’ll need to press on the cranberries with the back of a spoon to really squeeze every drop of the reduction out. Let the syrup cool before storing in the fridge. The syrup should keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails

This cranberry red wine reduction syrup is perfect for using up that leftover cranberry sauce. It's delicious in whiskey cocktails, gin cocktails, and anything else you want to add depth and complexity to.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 15 mins

Course Drinks

Servings 3 ounces

Equipment

small saucepan

Ingredients

½ cup red wine (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon)
¼ cup cranberry sauce, whole or jellied
¼ cup turbinado sugar
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 cardamom pods

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the syrup has reduced.
Pour into a small lidded container, using a strainer to strain out the spices and any cranberry pieces. You'll need to press on the cranberries with the back of a spoon to really squeeze every drop of the reduction out.
Let the syrup cool before storing in the fridge. The syrup should keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

Keyword cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cranberry, cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails, cranberry sauce, red wine, red wine reduction, turbinado

what to do with leftover cranberry sauce - use leftover cranberry sauce in a cocktail by making this cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails.

Demerara Syrup

by corrie.pennington / May 29, 2020

Demerara syrup is a rich alternative to traditional simple syrup. It is be used in place of simple syrup in cocktails and is most commonly used in tiki cocktail recipes.

Perhaps you’ve seen Demerara syrup in a cocktail recipe floating around Pinterest or Instagram, or maybe this is the first time your eyes have ever read this word. If you’re like me, you have to stare at it for a second and sound it out real slow, syllable by syllable. And in case you ever plan on saying this ingredient out loud, it’s pronounced deh-mer-are-uh. I’m kinda known for mispronouncing words so I make sure I Google things now.

Thankfully I never said the ingredient orgeat out loud before I learned how to say it correctly. In my head I pronounced it as “or-geet” with a hard G. Turns out it’s pronounced “or-zhjaht”. Or just listen to it here. Now you know why I’m afraid of doing any live videos on my Instagram or Facebook page. 😅

Compared to orgeat, Demerara is a breeze to say. It’s also really fun. Demerara. Oh darling, I just made the most amazing cocktail with Demerara and a dash of rosewater. Feels fancy, right?

And I guess Demerara syrup kind of is fancy. At least in the world of simple syrup. Demerara is a simple syrup made using, you guessed it, Demerara sugar instead of white sugar.

Demerara sugar is large-grain cane sugar that is either unrefined or partially refined so that it still retains some of the molasses. It’s got a delicious toffee flavor and a dark color when it’s melted down into a syrup.

Alternatives for Demerara Sugar

I used turbinado sugar, which is slightly different than Demerara sugar (most turbinado sugar has finer grains and is less sticky) but the Dulce Caña brand at Aldi has large grains and is pretty sticky. I think this brand is a great affordable alternative to true Demerara sugar as it tastes the same. If you want to be authentic though, you can snag this bag of Jamaican Choice Demerara Sugar on Amazon.

You can also use cane sugar or a mixture of half white sugar, half brown sugar. I’ve made the latter and used it in drinks and it was divine.

As I’ve mentioned in my other simple syrup recipe posts, I prefer making small batches of syrup so that I can use it all up before it goes bad. It should keep for about a month in the fridge. When it doubt, toss it and make a new batch. It’s too easy, after all!

Ingredients for Demerara Syrup

1/4 cup Demerara Sugar (or 1/8 cup brown, 1/8 cup white sugar)
1/4 cup water

How to Make Demerara Syrup

Add the sugar and the water to a small saucepan. Heat until the sugar grains are thoroughly dissolved. Pour into a small container. Allow to cool completely before putting a lid on it and sticking it in the fridge.