Make Cran-Blackberry and Cran-Cherry juice in the Instant Pot!

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      I enjoy drinking Cranberry juice very much.  Or, I should say, I am more drawn to cranberry juice blends.  So, when I saw an idea on Culinary Shades for making Cranberry Juice in the Instant Pot, I was all over it, except I decided to mix up the recipe and make cranberry blends with blackberries and cherries.  Here is what I did.

      For the first batch of juice, I made Cran-Blackberry Juice.  I happened to have some fresh blackberries in my fridge so I thought that would made a great combo.  It was easy to measure because one bag of cranberries is 12 oz. and the blackberry cartons were 6 oz each.  But, if you don't have pre-weighed packages like I did, it is important to weigh your berries on a scale and not try standard cup measuring thinking that 1 cup of berries will be 8 oz, because that is not the case when it comes to cranberries and blueberries.  If you look at a 12 oz bag of cranberries, it will be apparent to you that 8 oz, which is about 2/3 of the bag is much more than 1 cup.  When I need to weigh ingredients,  I use  a scale like this:

These scales are reasonably priced and really come in handy!

     When all of the ingredients are in the Instant Pot, you pressure cook them for 10 minutes.  All of the fruit will be nice and soft and then you can mix it all up with your immersion blender.  
      Probably the most difficult part of this process is straining the juice to make it ready to put into jars.  You need a fine mesh strainer and I often line it with cheesecloth as well.  The straining will get out the bits of cranberry skin and the seeds from the cranberries and the blackberries.  Doing a good job with the straining process will make the juice so much nicer to drink. 
       I didn't can my juice because this recipe made about 2 quarts of juice so I knew that we would drink it up pretty fast! If you do want to can it, use  a waterbath canner or a steam canner and process for 25 minutes for quarts and 20 for pints. 
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      The second juice blend that I made was Cran-Cherry.  I didn't have any fresh cherries, but I did have the canned cherries that I had put up earlier this year!  So, I used a quart of those, with the juice and 16 oz of cranberries this time, plus sugar and a bit of lemon juice.  It came out delicious and made 2 quarts and 1 pint of juice.  
     Both of these juices are a bit more nectar like rather than a watery juice, so you may want to add a bit of water to them when you serve them.  (Speaking of serving, check out the bonus idea below the next recipe!)
Be sure to click on the recipes to get the printable versions.
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     Now, if you want to know about the pretty pink frosted glass I used to serve some of this juice, here you go!  It was so easy to do!  It makes a festive look for the holidays! 

         I found this idea on the Ocean Spray website.  I cut the recipe in half for my needs.
​      I blended 2 Tbsp of cranberries and 1/2 c. sugar in a food processor.  Sometimes you need to stop the machine and scrap the sides a bit.  Using the smaller bowl on the food processor, or a small chopper will be best with this small amount of ingredients.  The sugar will be pink and moist with tiny flecks of cranberry showing. Transfer the sugar into a bowl wide enough to fit your glass in upside down.  There is no reason to wet the rim of the glass.  All you need to do is lightly bounce the rim of the glass  into the sugar a few times.  It will look like that glass above.  Let it sit just a few minutes and the sugar will dry and stick on very nicely. 

The sugar and cranberries all chopped up together.

     I also covered some fresh cranberries with the same sugar and put them on a skewer as a swizzle stick!  So much fun! And, the sugar makes those cranberries very edible! 
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     Last, but not least, of course I made labels to go on my juice jars to help me tell which juice is which! 

Of course, I am sharing the pdfs with you today.  I printed them on 2" labels congruent with Avery #22205.  Just click the pictures above and you will be taken to the pdf. 

     So, this is day 4 of Cranberry Week!  If you missed any of the past posts, click below! 

• Cherry Lime Bars
• Cranberry Sauce for Canning
• Cranberry Salsa

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