Pear Cranberry Chai

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

8 oz fresh or frozen cranberries
about 5 pears - sliced into 4-8 wedges
3-5 cinnamon sticks
10 cardamom pods - slightly crushed
12 cloves - slightly crushed
roughly 3-inch piece of fresh ginger root - sliced
3-5 star anise (optional)
8 cups purified water
3 heaping teaspoons loose leaf Earl Grey tea/other black tea of choice
2 cups unsweetened plant milk - coconut, almond, etc.
2-4 soft Medjool dates - pitted
ground cinnamon - for garnish (optional)
freshly ground whole nutmeg - for garnish (optional, but amazing here)

Instructions

Combine cranberries, pears, spices, ginger and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, adjust the heat to a simmer, cover partially and simmer for 10 minutes. Let sit to infuse for at least 1 hour, I like to leave it overnight.
Strain, discard spices and fruit, or core and blend pears into pear sauce (use as you would apple sauce).
Heat the liquid once again and bring to a near boil. Remove from heat and add the tea. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain once again, discard tea leaves.
In the meantime, combine the milk and dates in a small saucepan and heat it up until hot to the touch. Leave to sit for 10 minutes to let the dates soften and then blend until smooth (no need to wait 10 minutes if using a high-speed blender that can break down un-soaked dates).
Add date milk to the hot chai, whisk to combine. Curdling may occur - to remedy this, pour mixture into a blender and blend to a smooth and frothy texture, if desired. Pour between cups, garnish with cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg and enjoy.

Notes

To create a half-moon shape on top with the cinnamon, hold a small bowl or ramekin over each cup, using it as a stencil. Powder cinnamon through a strainer onto the part not covered by your bowl, tapping the strainer lightly with your hand to get the cinnamon to fall in an even layer.

Recipe by Golubka Kitchen at https://golubkakitchen.com/pear-cranberry-chai/