Fresh Cranberry Margaritas

Cookie and I zoomed five hours down I-35 to Oklahoma on Monday. When I left, I was still feeling a little sour about being the only single person at last weekend’s Friendsgiving. Sharing that dark drive through Kansas with just my loyal co-pilot and Jad and Rob from Radiolab was pretty nice, though.

This margarita has been on my mind ever since I saw it in Bon Appetit’s November issue, but I didn’t get around to making it until right before I left town. I couldn’t part with such an irresistible cocktail, so I poured it from its gold-rimmed glasses into a decidedly less glamorous pickle jar and stored it in my trunk. It glows at me like pink kryptonite every time I open my parents’ refrigerator.

The recipe calls for fresh cranberries, which are cooked down into a ruby red jam that lends far more flavor than cranberry juice. Once you’ve made the jam, just shake it up with tequila, fresh orange juice and lime juice. Then strain it into a glass rimmed not only with a blend of salt, sugar and warming spices. You’ll end up with a festive spin on my favorite margarita recipe.

This jam-in-cocktails concept seems promising. Very promising indeed. I can’t wait to try a blueberry jam version next summer. Of course, I substituted agave nectar for the sugar in the jam since agave nectar and tequila are such a natural pair (they both come from the agave plant).

I went ahead and doubled Bon Appetit’s jam component in the recipe below so you’ll have plenty to share with family or friends. Let the holidays begin!

Fresh Cranberry Margaritas

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Author: Cookie and Kate
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 8 1x
Category: Cocktail

★★★★★

4.9 from 7 reviews

Simple and stunning cranberry margaritas made with fresh cranberries. This recipe yields 8 small, 4-ounce drinks (or 6 drinks if your glasses are the same size as mine). You will need about 6 medium oranges and 5 medium limes. To get a head start on the drinks, make the cranberry jam up to 5 days in advance.

Scale

Ingredients

Cranberry jam

1 ½ cup fresh cranberries
½ cup light agave nectar or sugar
¼ cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons orange zest (from 1 to 2 oranges)

Sugar and spice blend

1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves or allspice

Margarita

1 cup (8 ounces) fresh orange juice
½ cup (4 ounces) fresh lime juice
1 ½ cup (12 ounces) silver/blanco tequila
optional garnish: 8 star anise

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Instructions

Make the jam: In a medium saucepan, bring cranberries, agave (or sugar), orange juice and ½ cup water to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and jammy, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the orange zest and set aside to cool.
Make the sugar and spice blend: On a small, flat plate, mix together the salt, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves (or allspice).
Line the glasses: You will need 8 old fashioned/small cocktail glasses. Rub a wedge of lime along the rim of each glass, then dip it into the sugar and spice blend. Repeat for remaining glasses, then fill each with ice (assuming that you will be serving the cocktails immediately).
To make each cocktail individually, combine 1 tablespoon (½ ounce) lime juice, 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) orange juice, 3 tablespoons (1 ½ ounces) tequila and 2 tablespoons cranberry jam in a cocktail shaker. Cover and shake until outside is frosty, about 30 seconds. Strain into prepared glass and serve with a star anise.

Notes

Recipe adapted from The Red Cat’s recipe in Bon Appetit.
Recommended tequila: Espolón, Milagro or any other 100 percent agave silver tequila.
To make four drinks at once: combine ¼ cup lime juice, ½ cup orange juice, ¾ cup tequila and ½ of the jam in cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice, shake vigorously and strain the mixture into 4 prepared glasses.
To make a pitcher of margaritas (pretty sure this will work well): fill a small pitcher with ice and pour in the tequila. In a cocktail shaker or mason jar, shake the orange juice, lime juice and all of the jam well (or blend it all up in a blender). Strain the mixture into the pitcher. Stir well before serving.
Storage suggestions: Leftover jam should keep well, covered, in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. It would be good on toast or oatmeal.

▸ Nutrition Information

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

P.s. I’m trying to be better at social media stuff. Here’s a Thanksgiving facebook round-up, fall recipe pinterest board annnnnd a brand new cooking tips and tricks board.

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