Cranberry Punch

Fresh cranberries cooked down, blended, and strained through cheesecloth give this punch a vibrant ruby color and a bright tartness you just can’t get from a bottle.

The orange juice concentrate rounds out the cranberry’s natural pucker with citrus sweetness, and you can use either artificial sweetener or regular sugar depending on your needs.

Straining is the key step here. Cheesecloth works great, but layered nylon netting actually catches finer pulp and gives you a cleaner, more polished punch. Squeeze every last drop out of that cloth, because the good stuff clings to the fruit.

The base makes a concentrated cranberry-orange blend that gets diluted to eight cups, so adjust water to your taste. Like it punchier? Use a little less water.

Kitchen Tips

• Sort through your cranberries before cooking and toss any that feel mushy or shriveled. Soft berries break down into bitter mush.
• A food mill produces smoother results than a blender since it separates skins and seeds in one pass.
• Chill the punch thoroughly before serving. It thickens slightly as it cools, so you may want to add a splash more water right before pouring.
• Float fresh cranberries or thin orange slices on top for a pretty presentation.

Variations

• Sparkling version: Replace half the water with ginger ale or club soda just before serving for fizzy cranberry punch.
• Spiced cranberry punch: Simmer a cinnamon stick and a few whole cloves with the cranberries while they cook for a warm holiday flavor.
• Frozen slush: Freeze the strained mixture in ice cube trays and blend into a slushy punch for summer.