Recipe: CRANBERRIES FERMENTED IN HONEY

Fresh cranberries are fermented in local raw honey then used as a probiotic healthy gut food.

This is a recipe I grabbed then modified off the internet in 2019 when we spent a year experimenting with fermented foods high in natural pre and probiotics. We were specifically searching for some recipes we could add to our diets on a regular basis that were appropriate for our blood type (not sauerkraut). This one is appropriate for all blood types but not a recipe to use if you have any issues with Gout. We loved it so much that this year we made several batches.

We dished out the berries as a condiment on our morning toast or we added it to freshly made yogurt for an extra punch. After all the cranberries are eaten you will have about a cup or so of the most wonderful, infused honey to use in cooking, to add to yogurt or to sweeten your tea with. I’ve also heard you can mix a bit of it with any cranberry dish for Thanksgiving for that extra probiotic boost.

Ingredients for Cranberries Fermented in Honey:  

• 1 pound Fresh Cranberries
• 2 cups Raw Local Honey
• 1 inch (2.5cm) section of Raw Ginger Root
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 juicy Orange (used for both orange zest and the juice)

Optional items:

• ½ teaspoon Raw Sauerkraut Brine (NOT canned or processes) or
• ½ teaspoon Liquid American Health Probiotic (any flavor) or
• 1 teaspoon Whey from any Plain Probiotic Organic Yogurt (We use Nancy’s brand)
• 1 Star Anise flower pods, dried
• Cardamom
• Cloves buds (a couple)

Directions on how to make Cranberries Fermented in Honey:

1. Wash the cranberries and discard any berries that don’t look right. Either pop a hole into each berry with a toothpick (very time intensive) or toss the berries into a food processor and pulse it a few times so that some of the berries are still whole.
2. Zest the orange rind and mix it into the cranberries.
3. Fill a quart jar with the zested/processed berries leaving 1 inch head space or a bit more.
4. Add the juice of one orange to the jar. Add the optional probiotic liquids also at this time. This year (2020) I added a bit of all three optional highly-probiotic options to increase the variety of flora.
5. Stuff thin sections of ginger and the cinnamon sticks down into the jar. This is the time to also add the optional spices to your jar like the Star Anise pod or a bit of cardamom and some clove buds.
6. Top the jar off with the raw local honey. It may take a bit for the honey to settle so be patient and add all of it. The berries are very sour and they need all that honey. Honey itself has a huge amount of raw live enzymes so it’s important not to heat the honey before adding it to the recipe.
7. Screw the lid onto the jar and tip the jar a few times to coal all the cranberries with the honey mixture.
8. Now loosen the lid and set the jar in a warm and dark place. Every few days, screw the lid down, tips the jar a time or two then loosen again and set back in its place. It takes a few weeks for fermentation to occur. Last year my batch took about 5 weeks before I saw bubbles but I left the jar on the counter for 7 weeks before putting it into the refrigerator.
9. After fermentation (yes, you can taste it) then screw the lid down and store in the refrigerator for up to 8 months.

Makes 1 Quart Cranberries Fermented in Honey

Helpful Links and References for Honey Fermented Cranberries:

• https://www.growforagecookferment.com/fermented-honey-cranberries/