Thursday, July 22, 2010

Blueberry Pancake Syrup


It's blueberry season, and my family and I picked 25 lbs of them. Now what the heck do we do? Make pancake syrup for one thing!

4 C. blueberries, stemmed, rinsed and drained
3 C. water
3 C. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon (optional)
1/4 t. nutmeg (optional)
lemon juice

1- Pour the blueberries into a saucepan and crush them with a potato masher or wooden spoon until most of the skins are broken.
2- Add 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer.
3-Turn heat down to low and cook the berries for 5 minutes at a simmer
4- Pour the berries into a strainer lined with two layers of cheescloth and let the blueberry juice drip through.
5- Twist the cloth to extract all the juice, there should be at least 2 cups. You might want to wear gloves if you don't want purple hand for the next few days.
6- Throw away the berry pulp.
7- Combine the remaining 2 C water with the sugar in a medium saucepan.
8-bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is clear.
9-boil the syrup, without stirring, until it reaches 260 degrees on a candy thermometer. This will take a long time.
10-Add the blueberry syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg to the sugar syrup and bring the mixture back to a boil
11-boil for 1 minute. Let the syrup cool, then add lemon juice to taste..
12- Pour the syrup into pint jars and refrigerate if you plan to use it in a month or two. Otherwise can it by processing in hot water bath for 30 minutes.

I don't remember where I originally got this recipe, but I have tweaked it to suit my tastes. You can always do the same. Enjoy.

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