After weeks of wanting to make some blueberry syrup, I finally did this afternoon. I found a recipe in my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving book. It was my first time ever to do any canning, so it was quite the experience for me. I think it took me a bit longer than it would take others familiar with canning, but its all good. The syrup turned out really well, I think. All of my lids have popped, so they seem to be sealing well. I'll find out tomorrow for sure after the 24 hours I guess. I did taste the syrup as I was filling the jars and it tasted very good. I can't wait to have this on pancakes or waffles in the coming months. Blueberry Syrup
8 cups blueberries, crushed
6 cups water, divided
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
3 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine the crushed blueberries, 2 cups of the water and lemon zest. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat and boil gently for 5 minutes. Transfer to a dampened jelly bag or strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth set over a deep bowl. Let drip, undisturbed, for at least 2 hours.
Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars, and lids.
In a clean large stainless steel saucepan, combine sugar and remaining 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook until temperature reaches 230 degrees. Add blueberry juice. Increase heat to high, bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
Ladle hot syrup into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw bands down until resistance is met, then increase to finger tip tight. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.
According to the recipe, this should make 3 pints, but I ended up getting 4 pints out of it, just perfectly.
7 comments:
This looks really good. I may have to try it if I get more blueberries at the farmer's market tomorrow. That's a lot of blueberries.
Too funny that you just made coleslaw. Justin and I aren't big fans either, but I just saw a recipe on Ellie Creager that I was going to try next week! I don't think I've had coleslaw in about 10years :p
I'm going to try the penne w/ pea-sto tomorrow. Looks yummy. And hopefully I'll have time to make extra pesto to freeze while I'm at it.
It took a little over 2 quarts of the blueberries. It is a lot, but the prices are down at the market for me now since the blueberries here are in season now. And it'll be awesome to have the blueberry syrup on hand. Making the syrup didn't end up being as much work as I thought it would be either.
Let me know what you think of the pea-sto. We loved it! I think I might actually make it again this week or next. I need to use up my basil quickly now... I think its being eaten by those dad-blamed Japanese Beetles all of a sudden now. I made a batch of pesto last night and froze it. I think I'll make another batch tonight with some pistachios since I used up my pine nuts last night.
We both loved the pea-sto! I've always loved pesto. It was nice that it made a big batch, so there are leftovers for Justin's lunch. Plus I froze some for a dinner later on. I also made some pesto and froze it this morning. I think I might make another batch with almonds soon since I ran out of pine nuts as well :) But I still have all the other ingredients.
How did you strain your syrup? Can you get cheesecloth at Meijer? Is that necessary or will just a strainer w/o lining work?
Glad you loved the pea-sto, too! And it is great that it makes a big batch for lunches. We ended up getting two dinners and two lunches for Kevin out of it.
I bought a jelly strainer stand at Ace Hardware and used that. I was just going to use my mesh strainer, but decided to get one of the jelly bag stands since I'd like to make some jellies/jams/etc. and figure I'll get some use out of it. I think a mesh strainer would probably work just fine, though you might get some random seeds or small bits that get through still. I'm sure they have cheesecloth at Meijer. I saw it at Ace Hardware, too. I didn't buy any, though. Did you get some berries at the market yesterday?
I didn't go yesterday. Decided to skip the market this week. Next week I'm going and I'll try to get a bunch of stuff. I want to try some new recipes and canning with blueberries, peaches and cherries. I finally looked through my blue ball book today and there is a ton of stuff I'd like to try. I've started my food blog...still working on it before I send out the link, though. I'll post on there if I end up doing any good canning.
Very nice looking blueberry syrup. Now that you've tried canning, you will be hooked :)
Thanks for linking to my blog, Mom's Cafe Home Cooking, in your blogroll.
I love you! I have two blueberry bushes in my back yard, and I've been dying to try my hand at canning! Guess what I'll be doing today?
Thanks!!!
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