Cranberry syrup is a sweet product rich in vitamins that can be made at home from fresh or frozen fruits of this plant. It is very easy to prepare, but extremely healthy and tasty product. It can be consumed as a standalone dish, but you can also prepare all kinds of drinks and sweet dishes on its basis. What useful properties and contraindications does cranberry syrup have, how to cook it and what dishes to add, you can find out from this article.
Beneficial features
Cranberry is a marsh berry that is not only remembered for its unusual sweet and sour taste, but also has many beneficial properties. It contains simple sugars and several organic acids, dyes, tannins and pectins, vitamin compounds, fiber (dietary fiber), salts, and mineral elements. And also in cranberry berries there are substances - natural antibiotics, so it is useful to consume them in autumn and winter as a good natural anti-cold remedy. Pectins, which are part of cranberries, are able to remove heavy and radioactive metals, cleansing the body of these harmful compounds.
Cranberry berries are also valued for flavonoids; fresh fruits contain anthocyanins, leukoanthocyanins, catechins and triterpenoids. Mineral elements in them are mainly represented by phosphorus, sodium and potassium. There are also iron, manganese, zinc, aluminum, copper and other trace elements that are important for human life, no less important for the normal course of processes in the body.
The result of regular use of the product is a significant improvement in appetite by increasing the production of stomach and pancreas juice. It can also be used with low acidity of gastric juice, as well as with some diseases of the gastrointestinal tract associated with this disorder, for example, with gastritis with low acidity.
In addition to the beneficial effect on the digestive organs, cranberry syrup can help with a variety of diseases - respiratory, inflammatory, autoimmune, infectious, ulcerative, as well as with vitamin deficiency, in particular, vitamin deficiency caused by a sharp lack of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and the disease caused by it - scurvy.
The use of syrup from cranberry berries allows you to remove excess fluid from the body, which prevents the formation or reduces existing edema, prevents the formation of blood clots in the vessels, the development of atherosclerosis, stroke, heart attacks, even the occurrence of malignant tumors.
The substances contained in cranberries strengthen bone tissue and fight the accumulation of excess fat in the body, strengthen and sharpen memory. They help to cope with chronic stress or constant nervous tension, help to fall asleep faster and make sleep more restful, longer and more productive.
Recipe
Cranberry is an inhabitant of the northern European and Asian regions, as well as the countries of North America. The population of these territories has long actively used its berries for food, both fresh and processed. For example, Europeans and Asians prepared food and folk remedies with the addition of cranberries, and the North American Indians made jam with the addition of maple juice and honey.
Today, cranberry syrup can be purchased in supermarkets or grocery stores, where it is sold in glass bottles of various sizes.But, having available fresh or frozen berries, sugar and cold water, you can try to cook it at home. These ingredients are included in the classic version of the cranberry syrup recipe, but there are also other variations, according to which fresh juice or finely chopped citrus zest - orange or lemon, white or red wine, oriental spices (cinnamon, vanilla, ginger) are added to it and other components. Each of them gives the finished product its own peculiar taste and delicate aroma.
It is very easy to cook cranberry syrup in the classic version. To do this, you need to take equal parts of cranberries and sugar, that is, for example, 1 kg each. The cooking algorithm can be described as follows:
- Sort the berries, separate the unusable: damaged, rotten, too small, green. Put the rest in a colander, rinse under water, leave for 2 minutes to drain the water.
- Pour the prepared cranberries into a saucepan. It should be enameled, not aluminum - you cannot cook in metal dishes, since cranberries contain many aggressive organic acids that will react with metal during the cooking process.
- Pour cold water over the cranberries so that it completely covers them, but there is not too much of it.
- Put on the stove and let the mixture boil.
- After the berries begin to burst in the boiling liquid, and this will happen after about 10 minutes, cook for another 10 minutes, then remove from heat.
- After cooling, strain the cranberry mass through a fine mesh sieve.
- Pour the juice back into the saucepan, add sugar and cook over low heat until it begins to thicken.
- Remove from heat, cool.
You can drink ready-made cranberry syrup right away, with hot tea, for example. The main volume can be bottled and hermetically sealed with lids. Then put them in storage in a cold and dark place: in a pantry, cellar or basement.
Contraindications
If you use cranberry syrup in moderation, then it is not contraindicated for healthy people. Only its use in excessive quantities or too frequent is harmful. However, as with most foods, cranberry syrup has a number of dietary restrictions. For example, people who have stones or sand in their kidneys should not drink it or eat food with it, since cranberries contain oxalic acid, from which oxalates are formed, and diabetics, as it is very sweet and can cause a sharp increase in sugar content in blood.
With individual intolerance to any substances that make up the chemical composition of cranberry berries, you should also find some other product with similar properties and taste. And also it is necessary to refrain from using cranberry syrup during the period of therapy with drugs that thin the blood, which can lead to accidental bleeding, as well as those people who are allergic to the drug aspirin.
Cooking applications
Small amounts of cranberry syrup can be poured into hot and cold drinks. For example, to quench your thirst, you need to dilute a little syrup in cool mineral water, and in order to keep warm on a cold day - in boiling water or tea. On its basis, you can cook delicious jellies, compotes or jelly. They can only be made from cranberry syrup or with the addition of syrups from other fruits or berries.
Cranberry syrup is a great ingredient to add to desserts like homemade ice cream or baked goods such as muffins, cakes and pastries. They can be poured over pancakes or toast. It can also be added to alcoholic beverages, for example, liqueurs, vodka, it can also be mixed with wine or added as an ingredient to an alcoholic or non-alcoholic cocktail.Hot water with cranberry syrup and honey of any kind can be used for common colds and other respiratory diseases to reduce fever and restore strength and health as quickly as possible.
Despite the fact that the cranberry syrup is sweet, it can be used to prepare unique flavors. sauces for meat and a bird. For example, this sauce is served in America and England at Christmas with a turkey, which is considered a good tradition.
Conclusion
Cranberry syrup is not a very common and well-known dessert product in our country, but, nevertheless, it is very useful and original. It is easy to prepare it at home from berries and ordinary sugar collected by your own hands in nature or purchased from a retail network. It can become an important component of various dishes, everyday and festive drinks, giving them a unique taste and aroma.
