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Cranberry Juice from Frozen Cranberries
Instructions
Take the 400 grams of frozen cranberries out of the freezer. Rinse them quickly under cold running water to remove any frost or surface ice, then leave them to thaw at room temperature for about one to one and a half hours. Transfer the thawed cranberries to a deep mixing container ready for the next step. If using fresh cranberries, simply skip the thawing step entirely.
Use a hand-held immersion blender to mash the thawed cranberries into a thick smooth puree. The blending step breaks down the tough berry skins and releases the brilliant red juice and pulp into a workable mass for the extraction steps that follow.
Lay a doubled square of clean cheesecloth over a deep plate or shallow bowl. Place a small portion of the cranberry puree directly on top of the cheesecloth, then gather the cloth into a small bag around the puree to prepare for the squeezing step.
Twist the gathered cheesecloth tightly to squeeze the bright red cranberry juice out of the puree and into a clean container below. Do not throw the squeezed pulp away, since you will need it for the next extraction step. Set the spent pulp aside in a separate dish ready for boiling.
Pour one litre of water into a deep cooking pot and bring it to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the spent cranberry pulp to the boiling water. Once the water returns to the boil with the pulp added, continue cooking gently for ten to fifteen minutes to extract the remaining flavour, colour and nutrients from the pulp.
Take a clean colander and line the inside with a fresh piece of cheesecloth. Pour the boiled liquid through the cheesecloth-lined colander to separate the spent pulp from the now richly flavoured cranberry-infused liquid. The pulp can be discarded at this stage, since it has given up everything it has.
Add 150 grams of granulated sugar to the warm strained liquid and stir until completely dissolved. The exact quantity of sugar can be adjusted to personal taste preference, with somewhere between 150 and 200 grams suiting most palates. Adding the sugar while the liquid is still warm helps it dissolve more easily than adding to a cold drink.
Check that the sweetened liquid has cooled down to roughly room temperature, then add the bright raw cranberry juice that was squeezed earlier in the recipe. Stir well to combine. The raw juice contributes the brightest freshest flavour notes, which would be lost if the juice were added to boiling-hot liquid.
Pour in a few more cups of cool boiled water to dilute the mors to your preferred strength, and add additional sugar to taste if needed. Taste cautiously and adjust: if the juice is too concentrated, add more water; if it is not quite sweet enough, add a little extra sugar one teaspoon at a time and stir to dissolve.
The cranberry juice from frozen cranberries is now ready to serve. Pour the finished drink into glasses and enjoy this beautifully fragrant healthy traditional Slavic beverage. The mors tastes equally good served warm in the cold winter months or properly chilled on hot summer afternoons. Bon appetit!
Tips
- 1
Use the traditional double-extraction method described in the recipe rather than simply boiling all the cranberries together with sugar in one pot. The double-extraction approach preserves the bright fresh vitamin-rich character of the raw juice while still extracting the deeper richer flavours and pectin from the boiled pulp, producing a more complex and beneficially nutritious finished drink than the simpler one-pot version ever could.
- 2
Adjust the sweetness gradually to your personal taste rather than adding all the sugar at once, since cranberries vary considerably in their natural acidity from batch to batch. To pair this beautifully traditional Slavic drink with another fragrant homemade preserve, try our easy dandelion jam (dandelion honey) for a properly authentic countryside afternoon spread on toasted bread.
- 3
Replace some or all of the sugar with honey for a more nutritious finished drink with a deeper more complex flavour profile. Honey works particularly well in mors served warm during the cold winter months, where the warmth gently brings out the floral honey notes alongside the bright cranberry character. Add the honey only after the liquid has cooled down somewhat, since high temperatures destroy many of the beneficial enzymes naturally present in raw honey.
- 4
Store the finished mors in clean glass bottles in the refrigerator for up to five days for best results. For another simple homemade berry-based drink to add variety to your weekly rotation, try our beautiful strawberry-banana smoothie in a blender for a creamier dessert-style alternative on warm summer afternoons.
FAQ
Can I use other berries in this recipe? +
Absolutely. The same double-extraction technique works brilliantly with lingonberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, sea buckthorn berries, raspberries and even blueberries. Each berry brings its own characteristic flavour and natural sweetness, so adjust the added sugar accordingly. A combination of two or three different berries often produces the most complex interesting finished drink. Whatever berries you choose, the same basic process of squeezing raw juice and boiling the pulp gives the best results.
How long does cranberry mors keep? +
Store the cooled mors in clean sealed glass bottles in the refrigerator for up to five days for best results. The drink keeps its bright colour and fresh flavour throughout this period, though some natural settling at the bottom is normal. Always shake or stir well before serving to redistribute any settled pulp. For longer storage of up to three months, freeze the mors in portion-sized containers and thaw overnight in the fridge before drinking.
Is cranberry mors really good for health? +
Cranberries are well-known for their unique combination of vitamins, antioxidants and naturally occurring compounds called proanthocyanidins, which are widely studied for their support of urinary tract health. The traditional double-extraction technique used in this recipe preserves more of the natural nutrients than ordinary boiling alone. However, mors is not a substitute for proper medical treatment of any condition, so always consult a doctor about specific health concerns rather than relying on home remedies alone.
Can I make this drink without sugar? +
Yes, but the natural acidity of cranberries makes the finished drink quite sour without any sweetener at all. As alternatives to white sugar, consider honey, maple syrup, agave nectar or even a few drops of liquid stevia for a low-calorie option. Each sweetener brings its own flavour notes that complement the cranberry character differently, so experiment to find the combination you enjoy most. Diluting the finished drink with sparkling water also helps tame the sourness without adding any sugar.
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