Cranberry Orange Liqueur - The Art of Food and Wine (2024)

Updated on: October 31, 2023

The holidays are a perfect time to make this homemade Cranberry Orange Liqueur recipe

You can enjoy it as an after-dinner sip, or mix it with Champagne to make a Cranberry Orange Champagne co*cktail

This homemade cranberry liqueur is quick to make because it takes just about 30 minutes to prepare and only needs 2 weeks to “marinate” in the refrigerator.

Cranberry Orange Liqueur is gorgeous to look at and even better to drink! It has a hint of cinnamon so it’s perfect for the holidays.

If you have some beautiful old sherry or cordial glasses hiding in the back of your china cabinet now is the time to get those out and serve this liqueur!

Ingredients for Cranberry Orange Liqueur:

• Vodka
• Cranberries
• Orange Juice and zest
• Sugar
• Cinnamon

How to make Cranberry Orange Liqueur:

Cooking instructions:

Step-by-step instructions are below to make this recipe really easy. You will strain this recipe twice when you make it, so be sure to have a fine woven strainer available, or cheesecloth.

Step 1: Combine cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and orange zest in a deep heavy pan.

Step 2: Bring everything to a boil and continue boiling until cranberries pop or burst open.

Step 3: Blend everything until smooth. We use an immersion blender but you’ll get the same results in a regular blender. Use caution if using a regular blender because the liquid is super hot and will expand in the blender.

Straining the Cranberry Orange Liqueur

There are 2 steps in the straining process:

Step 4: STRAIN #1 – Pour blended mixture through a strainer, into a clean bowl, pushing with a rubber spatula to extract as much liquid and flavor as possible. Discard the leftover cranberry skins in the strainer.

Step 5: STRAIN #2 – Repeat the straining method into a clean bowl, but use a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth this time. Discard the remaining skins.

Step 6: Add vodka and cinnamon and whisk to combine

Step 7: Pour into a decanter or jar and seal tightly

Step 8: Refrigerate for about 2 weeks. Shaking occasionally.

Step 9: Decant into smaller gift bottles, if desired. We love this style bottle but there are many choices out there.

Step 10: Store for up to 6 months in the refrigerator, sealed.

Serving Cranberry Orange Liqueur

After two weeks the homemade liqueur will be ready to use. If you want a super smooth liqueur you can strain it a third time.

This is a liqueur and is meant as a small drink after dinner or as an aperitif, so you will want to pour just about 2-3 ounces for sipping. We have a weakness for beautiful cordial or sherry glasses. If you don’t have any, try these beautiful glasses from Amazon.

Variations: Try cherries instead of cranberries

If you need something just a little sweeter try substituting half of the cranberries for cherries (I made it with the frozen variety since cherries aren’t in season). This version is a little sweeter and I omitted the cinnamon, however, everything else is the same as the recipe below.

How to make a Cranberry Orange Champagne co*cktail

This liqueur makes a great base for any co*cktail but our favorite is the Cranberry Orange Champagne co*cktail. It’s a beautiful and festive drink!

Just coat the rim of our co*cktail glass with a bit of orange juice and then dip it in sugar. Shake the liqueur with ice in a martini shaker, pour into the glass, and top with Champagne. Cut a thin orange slice for a garnish or drop in a few cranberries!

Great for gifting

A special thanks to our guest chef: Deb Hoage

Deb was kind enough to share this amazing recipe with us. And, to top it off the entire recipe is gluten-free!