Who knew there was such a thing as Juice Week? Williams-Sonoma keeps tracks of these occasions and they were kind enough to contact me about participating by sharing a recipe, a how-to, or other juice-related story to celebrate the occasion. Since I love fresh juices as much as the next vegan, I agreed to share a new recipe. Now, I’m not one for crazy-flavored juices. My typical beverage consists of apples, ginger, turmeric, beets, and when I’m feeling especially wild, a stalk of celery. I know a lot of people juice greens, but I don’t feel that so much; I’d rather blend them into a smoothie. But for this post, I wanted to do something a little bit different. And I wanted to keep it simple. Really simple. I decided to focus on seasonal ingredients to create a light and refreshing drink, because that to me is the essence of juicing. And, then – there is chocolate. Chocolate juice? Not quite. What I created is a juice hybrid. You’ll see below.
Although I juice fairly regularly, I have a rather sad juicer that my sister passed down to me (much like her hand-me-down clothes that I inherited when we were kids. Some things never change.). It gets the job done, but it’s a pain to disassemble and clean, and because it is a centrifugal juicer, it is inefficient at extracting the maximum amount of juice (especially from those greens that I don’t juice…). But since it was free and since the resulting drink is still really darn good, I can’t complain too much. Perhaps Santa will take pity on me and notice that my Wish list has a choice of two beautiful masticating juicers from which to choose (the Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer or the Hurom EG Elite Slow Juicer):
Check out Williams-Sonoma’s full line of gleaming juicers here. For now, my beat up and stained Juiceman is just going to have work a little longer.
The juice I made has three powerhouse ingredients:
Apples
- Osteoporosis protection
- Brain cell protection from free radicals
- Lowered lung cancer risk
- Reduced risk of breast cancer
Cranberries
- Protection against anti-inflammatory diseases
- Tooth decay fighter
- Treatment and prevention of urinary tract infections
- Anti-aging properties
Cacao
- Cancer cell warrior
- Protection against Alzheimer’s and other diseases of the brainh
- Good for your ticker
With this juice, the first thing you taste is the sweetness from the apples, then a hint of tartness from the cranberries, followed by that lovely, indescribable flavor that is chocolate. And the color is divine (and seasonally perfect!). I think December is a great time for juicing. We often overindulge during the holidays and fresh juices are a great way to detox, refresh, and make you feel light and full of energy. Happy Juice Week! This sipper has been entered in the Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck #25!
Cran-Apple Chocolate Sipper
- Total Time: 15
Description
As refreshing and tasty as it is colorful, sip on this light and fruity combination of cranberries, apples, and chocolate.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
- 4 sweet apples, quartered
- 1 cup strongly-brewed cacao (such as Choffy or Crio)*, chilled
Instructions
- Put the cranberries and apples through a juicer. Combine the chilled brewed cacao with the juice and serve.
Notes
- Add some sparkling water and a dash of cinnamon for a refreshing holiday punch.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 112
- Sugar: 20
- Sodium: 3
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 30
- Protein: 1
- Cholesterol: 0
*How to make brewed cacao:
Place 6 heaping tablespoons brewing cacao (smaller than nibs, but not powdered like cocoa) in a French press. Bring 1 1/2 cups water just to a boil. Pour the water into the French press and let sit for 5-6 minutes. Slowly push the press down and pour off the liquid into a measuring cup. Yield is about 1 cup. Chill until ready to use.
Though Williams-Sonoma contacted me about participating in Juice Week, I received no incentive nor compensation to do so. This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Loving the color of that drink….I love cranberries and apples, holy yum! I also have some of that brewing cacao if you can believe it! Most people are not familiar with it, but I bought a bag of it last year….it is different but still so enjoyable! Since I have all 3 of these ingredients, I probably should make some really soon!
This reminded me that I totally spaced replying to Williams Sonoma about participating in a smoothie post. OOPS. I’ll drink to that, one of these please!
I made it this morning & loved it all! My hubby agreed with me! So delicious! xxx
Sophie, you are the best recipe tester ever!
I try to be! x
I love the colors and pictures! I juice regularly and I’ve never tried this combo! Looks so good!
It’s very light and refreshing – – but with a nice hint of chocolate. Thank you for the kind words.
Okay, this looks wicked cool! I never knew you could brew cacao nibs like coffee! The combination of cranberries and apples, it almost sounds like it could be a cocktail. This is a definite on my list. Are there other uses for brewed cacao? I’m sure there are, but have you created anything else other than this juice? I’m planning a juice detox soon, and I would like to include this one as perhaps a nice after dinner juice. Great combo!
Laura, I use the brewed drink in recipes (desserts) and have even used the brewed grounds in things like cookies and brownies. The drink is delicious hot with a bit of sweetener and nut milk. The smell alone of this stuff…!
Eek! Looks simply AMAZING, Annie! I had those exact same juice glasses as a kid. Oh, the memories!