When flipping through The Stardew Valley Cookbook, I was wanting to find a good recipe to end the year with since we are currently playing through the game again for the Variety Show, and this particular one seemed like a great way to celebrate the coming new year!
This particular drink recipe comes from the game Stardew Valley, which you can learn in-game on the last day of the first year, making this a great sweet drink to have for a New Year’s Party, both in-game and real life. With the game describing this drink as tasting “like angel’s tears”, I was always curious what this drink tasted like and it in fact is quite sweet despite the bitterness from the cranberries.
Though, if the drink is too sweet for you, the recipe book does suggest substituting the apple cider with plain seltzer water if you want it to be less cloying. Though if you do, I would recommend adding some apple slices when making your syrup to make it more accurate since the recipe in game requires apples, along with the cranberries and sugar. Speaking of which, for any extra cranberry syrup, you can transfer any remaining syrup to a glass jar with a lid, where it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 14 days. And like with the ginger ale syrup from another Stardew Valley recipe we did, you are welcome to mix this into other drinks such as soda or in a mixed drink. Also, if you wish to make this drink alcoholic, you could substitute the apple cider with hard cider or with your New Year’s champagne.
The tree ice decoration was something I had seen online this past month and I thought it would look pretty cool with the recipe but the drink is a bit darker than I thought it was going to be so it just looks like a dark red drink, but as the ice melts, the drink will lighten up and as the ice dilutes the drink, it could be a cool reveal. Though one issue with this is that, as the ice melts, the rosemary tree will most likely float up, so just try to be careful when taking a drink. The original recipe does call for light brown sugar, which might help lighten up the drink to see better, but you could also just add in some water to lighten the drink as well. And you could also just throw in a rosemary sprig without freezing it beforehand to avoid the risk of eye injury all together while keeping the festive spirit.
We’ve actually done a good chunk of recipes for food that you can make in Stardew Valley, but in terms of this actual cookbook, we’ve done a few recipes from this wonderfully curated collection of recipes, such as the Ginger Ale, Piña Colada, and Lucky Lunch. Every recipe we’ve done so far from this book has been great, even apart from the game, and I’m excited to take a look at more recipes soon, but if you can’t wait, I highly recommend getting a copy for yourself!
Ingredients:
- 1½ cups fresh or thawed frozen cranberries and some more for garnish
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1¼ cups water
- A pinch of salt
- 3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 cups Sparkling Apple-Cranberry Cider or Plain Apple Cider
- Some ice cubes
- Frozen Rosemary Decoration (optional):
- Some water
- 4 sprigs of rosemary for decoration
Step 1: Prepare Rosemary for Frozen Tree Decoration
First, we’ll prepare the frozen rosemary trees, so in your serving glasses, add in a little bit of water and then place your rosemary sprigs in the glass upside down so it looks like a pine tree. If needed, grab a piece of tape or plastic wrap to hold the rosemary in place and place these glasses into the freezer to freeze the water into ice.
Step 2: Cook Cranberries w/ Brown Sugar, Water, & Salt into Sauce & Then Add Vanilla Extract
Next, in a small saucepan, stir together the cranberries, brown sugar, water, and a pinch of salt. Cook this, stirring occasionally, until the mixture starts to boil, then continue to simmer on medium low heat until the cranberries have all burst and become very tender, about 15-25 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Step 3: Extract Syrup & Juices from Cranberries & Let Cool
Next, strain the mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl, pressing down on the cranberries to extract as much liquid as possible. Make sure to also scrape off the jammy pulp that comes through the strainer and stir it into the syrup, leaving behind the cranberry skins and seeds in the strainer. If you have less than 1½ cups of syrup after straining, add enough water to reach that amount. Then, when you’ve extracted enough liquid, stir the syrup until smooth, and then let it cool.
Step 4: Mix Cooled Syrup w/ Sparkling Cider; Garnish w/ Cranberries, & Enjoy!
When your frozen rosemary tree ice is ready, remove the glasses from the freezer and divide the syrup among the 4 tall glasses. Fill the glasses with ice cubes if needed, then top with the sparkling cider. Use a long spoon to give each drink a good stir, and garnish with several cranberries, and with that, your Cranberry Candy is ready to drink.