Honey Fermented Cranberries
These honey fermented cranberries are sweet, tart and great for your gut! They barely take any effort to make, and are a splendid way to put extra fruit to use.
Best of all, they look absolutely gorgeous- perfect on your holiday table with an assortment of appetizers, cheeses and spreads like fig compote.
I've been trying out a lot of fruit preserve recipes recently. It's become a kind of hobby now, and every time I have some extra fruit leftover, I end up pickling it or preserving it in some way.
Recently, I tried making roasted strawberries and they turned out SO delicious, and my fermented apples were a huge hit too. And that's actually what inspired me to try fermenting another fruit too. So this time, I thought of using cranberries!
Quick Look
- 🔪Prep time: 5 min.
- ⏲️Cook time: 0 min.
- 👪 Servings: 8.
- 📋Main ingredients: Cranberries, orange juice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, honey.
- ♨️Cooking method: Smash cranberries to open them up a bit 🡢 transfer to a glass jar with other ingredients 🡢 cover and store for few days 🡢 serve and enjoy.
- ⭐Difficulty: Easy.
- 🥣Serving ideas: Feature these fermented cranberries along with some peach jalapeno jam and an assortment of cheeses and crackers to make a quick holiday charcuterie board.
Jump to:
What's So Great About the Recipe?
- It's SO easy to make. All you need is a few ingredients and 5 minutes in the kitchen- that's it.
- It's a great way to preserve leftover fruit, and is super versatile too- just like my pickled rhubarb.
- It's perfect for the holidays- just like my stewed apples! The brilliant color and flavor makes these cranberries perfect to use for lots of holiday recipes.
Recipe Ingredients
Cranberries: Fresh, ripe cranberries are best!
Whole spices: I used a mix of cloves, cinnamon and fresh ginger. Feel free to use ginger powder if you can't find fresh ginger.
Honey: Use the best quality, raw, organic honey you can find. Sometimes, I use my spiced orange honey when I have it at hand.
Orange juice: For some citrusy sweetness.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- For an extra citrusy flavor, you can also add some lemon or orange zest into the mix. I love using my lemon infused honey sometimes when I have it at hand.
- Whole black peppercorns can also be a good addition to this one and can complement the sweetness. I used them for my pickled raisins and the flavors were incredible!
- If you want to keep it simple, you can completely skip the spices too, and just use honey and orange juice.
How to Make Honey Fermented Cranberries
Step 1: Wash and pat dry cranberries. Smash them up a bit by pressing down on them with a back of a spoon or your knife.
Step 2: Add them to a clean glass jar along with the whole spices, and add the orange juice and honey.
Step 3: Cover with a lid and rest at room temperature in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight for a few days.
Step 4: Once you start to see bubbles forming, the fermented cranberries are ready to consume!
💭Top Tip
Make sure you burp the jar a couple of times everyday to allow the gases to escape.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- Make sure you don't fill up the glass jar completely, and leave a bit of room on the top for the fermentation gases.
- Every couple of days, use a clean spoon to mix the cranberries on the top into the honey mixture.
- You can also use frozen cranberries if you can't find fresh ones. Just make sure you let them thaw completely, pat them dry and then use them for the recipe.
- Don't discard the orange peel leftover after using the fresh orange juice. Use it to make some candied citrus peel which works as a wonderful dessert topping!
- Got some extra cranberries leftover? Use them to make a nice spiced Christmas jam!
How to Use Honey Fermented Cranberries
These honey fermented cranberries work wonderfully in holiday recipes. You can use them as a base for your holiday drinks or drizzle them onto your baked goodies. I usually use them, some of my gingerbread syrup or my pickled cherries- whichever ones I have at hand.
You can also skip the classic cranberry sauce and just smush some of the fermented cranberries and use them (along with some of the honey) instead as a side for your Thanksgiving turkey.
I love spooning some of this over my vanilla ice cream to jazz it up. When I'm hosting, I set up a station with some more of my favorite ice cream toppings like fig compote, apple cider caramel sauce, my favorite olive oil caramel sauce, some spiced pear butter and sometimes even just my simple golden syrup.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
You can store the jar at room temperature in a cool, dark area. Make sure you keep it away from direct sunlight.
To burp the jar, simply open the lid and allow the gases to escape, then put the lid back on again.
It can take anywhere between 4 days to 2 weeks for the cranberries to ferment. It all depends on the temperature and humidity in your area and the kind of honey you have used.
If you start to see bubbles forming on the top, it means that the bacteria are doing their thing and the fermentation is working.
More Sweet Toppings to Try
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried these honey fermented cranberries or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Honey Fermented Cranberries
Ingredients
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1 orange juiced
- 2 cups honey
- 3-4 cloves
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 cinnamon
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry cranberries. Smash them up a bit by pressing down on them with a back of a spoon or your knife.
- Add them to a clean glass jar along with the whole spices, and add the orange juice and honey.
- Cover with a lid and rest at room temperature in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight for a few days.
- Once you start to see bubbles forming, the fermented cranberries are ready to consume!
Notes
- Every couple of days, use a clean spoon to mix the cranberries on the top into the honey mixture.
- Make sure you don't fill up the glass jar completely, and leave a bit of room on the top for the fermentation gases.
- Make sure you burp the jar a couple of times everyday to allow the gases to escape.
- You can also use frozen cranberries if you can't find fresh ones. Just make sure you let them thaw completely, pat them dry and then use them for the recipe.
