Spicy Mulled Cranberry Shrub
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Need a last-minute gift? Get DIY with it, grab a bag of cranberries when you’re out doing your holiday grocery shopping, and make this shrub. Shrubs are so easy to throw together, only require a few ingredients—fruit, vinegar, sugar, and whatever you want to infuse them with—and are endlessly customizable. This one pulls festive flavors from mulled wine—cinnamon, cloves, and mace—plus dried chilies for whisper of heat that lingers on the lips like a mistletoe kiss.
Summer shrubs love fresh chilies, but winter fruits—pears, persimmons, pomegranates, and of course, cranberries—adore dried chilies, which bring a deeper, richer smoldering fire to the finished syrup. What chili is up to you and your desired flavor profile. If it’s sultry smokiness you’re after, try a few whole Sirārakhong Hāthei—these give mezcal-adjacent, almost peaty scotch-like undertones, making the shrub great for non-alcoholic libations—or a dried chipotle pepper. For a brighter, fruiter heat, try chile de arbol, Espelette, or Guntur Sannam. Or, maybe you want something a bit earthier? Go with an ancho or couple cascabel chilies (these pair especially well with pears).
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Spicy Mulled Cranberry Shrub
When infusing shrubs, the flavorings are usually cooked with the fruit, vinegar, and sugar, but for this one, the hot shrub is poured over the spices and chilies. As the shrub cools to room temperature—which takes a few hours—the heat of the acidulated syrup allows the infusions to steep slowly. I’ve found this method gets the clearest, warmest flavors from the spices—each working in harmony with one another instead of becoming muddied.
The orange is subtle here, using only the juice for rounded, sunny sweetness. If you want a more prominent cran-orange flavor, use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest, taking as little of the white pith as possible, and add those ribbons of zest to the spices and chilies to infuse with the shrub.
If you want a chili-free shrub, you can omit the dried chilies and just go for the warming spices. Or, cranberries love green cardamom. So, for a simpler, yet equally stunning shrub, skip the other spices and chilies and use 6 to 8 crushes green cardamom pods instead.
Makes 1 12-ounce bottle
INGREDIENTS
1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries (about 3½ cups)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup fresh orange juice
½ cup cold water
¾ cup granulated white sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
Pinch of salt (kosher or sea, your choice!)
5 whole cloves
2 to 3 whole dried chilies, such as chile de arbol, Guntur Sannam or Sirārakhong Hāthei (see newsletter introduction)
1 to 2 blades mace (like these ones from Diaspora Co.)
1 3-to-4 inch cinnamon stick, broken in half
METHOD
Place 1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, ½ cup fresh orange juice, ½ cup cold water, ¾ cup granulated white sugar, ½ cup light brown sugar, and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium, keeping at an active simmer, and cook until all the cranberries have popped and are starting to look slumpy without being too mushy, 7 to 9 minutes.
Meanwhile, place 5 whole cloves, 2 to 3 whole dried chilies, 1 to 2 blades mace, and 1 3-to-4 inch cinnamon stick, in a medium heatproof bowl.
Pour the shrub through a fine mesh strainer into the bowl, gently pushing on the cooked cranberries to release as much liquid as possible without pressing too many of the solids through the sieve. Allow to cool to room temperature, remove the whole spices and chilies, transfer to a jar or bottle, and refrigerate for up to 2 months.
To serve, pour 1 ounce of the shrub over ice, top with sparkling water, stir, and enjoy. Or, use in your favorite cocktails—this one pairs particularly well with tequila and bourbon (hello, yuletide margaritas!).
I’ve said it once, and I will say it again: Homemade gifts are the best kind of gifts. In a world of too much stuff, these tasty treats bring flavor and joy without cluttering things up (and, hopefully, they disappear quickly!). Here are two more DIY winners (pictured below), straight from the From Head to Table archives:
Chili-Shallot Crisp: Once you gift this chili crisp, your friends will be asking for it every year. My friend and her whole extended family did a blind taste test of some of the most popular chili crisps on the market and added mine into the mix, and guess which one won? Yes, it’s that good. Allium-forward, tinged with cinnamon and star anise for warmth and aroma, and packed with a variety of dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns, it’s finished with a hearty dose of store-bought roasted sesame seeds for even more textural pleasure.
Cheat Lemon Pickle: This quick achaar takes a helping hand from jarred preserved lemons, cutting the curing time down from a couple weeks to just 24 hours. It’s packed with crunchy whole spices, like coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and black mustard, plus dried red chilies, turmeric, and a pinch of hing.
