A simple homemade blueberry syrup made from a few simple ingredients. It can be used in drinks or on pancakes, waffles and plenty of other things. Where most recipes use water and sugar, to focus on the blueberry flavor I ferment the syrup using only the natural water contained in the blueberries. Read on and I'll show you how it's done.
This is a special syrup made along the lines of Korean Cheong, a method of preservation where fruit is mixed with equal parts sugar and allowed to ferment. It's the same method I use to make pine cone syrup and green black walnut syrup, but it contains less sugar to make it easier to flavor drinks without making them too sweet.
How to Make Fermented Blueberry Syrup
First weigh the blueberries and sugar. Next, put the blueberries and sugar in a jar, along with the aromatics if using. I like to add a small slice of ginger, a splash of vanilla extract and lemon peel. All aromatics are optional.
Next, crush the berries to release their liquid that will mix with the sugar and ferment. If you don't have a mallet that will fit inside the jar you can use latex gloves, but it can get messy.
After mashing the fruit the jar is left at room temperature for 4-5 days to begin fermenting.
After 4-5 days, the syrup is ready to cook. Scrape the sugar and blueberries into a pot, bring the heat to a simmer to melt the syrup. The pot will create foam as the syrup comes to a boil-there's no need to skim it off and it will dissipate after cooling.
All you need to do is simmer the syrup to melt the sugar. This is not supposed to be a thick, molasses-like syrup, but a light syrup good for mixing into drinks, cocktails and mocktails.
Chef's Tips
- If you want to make an easy blueberry simple syrup just mix equal parts store-bought blueberry juice with good organic sugar, bring it to a boil, cool and store.
- The syrup is light and perfect for adding color to cocktails and drinks. Sometimes I mix it with soda water, ice, a squeeze of lime, and fruit juice for a simple mocktail.
- This is a great recipe for wild blueberries, but regular fresh frozen blueberries work too. Since they're very similar, huckleberries can also be used.
- Adding it do drinks that are muddled with mint is very good. Basil is great too.
- The syrup can be used on pancakes, waffles, French toast, and just about anywhere you want, just keep in mind it's supposed to be on the thin side.
- To make a thicker syrup to use specifically for pancakes, heat it using a thermometer to 219 F before storing. If you do, expect a loss in volume of about 1 cup.
- You could also add ¼ cup corn syrup to make it thicker if you keep some in the house, which I usually don't.
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Fermented Blueberry Syrup
Equipment
- 1 ½ gallon mason jar or similar
- 1 Mallet or latex gloves for mashing the fruit
- 1 small saucepan roughly 3 quart size
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 two inch strip lemon peel
- 5-6 spicebush berries optional
- 1 tablespoon wild vanilla extract optional
- 1.5 lbs raw Turbinado sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice optional, for canning
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Build the syrup
- Mix all ingredients and spoon into a half-gallon mason jar or similarly sized, non-reactive container.
- Mash the berries and sugar with a mallet or with a gloved hand until the juice has released enough for liquid to slosh around freely in the jar.
- Cover the jar with a lid and allow to ferment for 4-5 days, and up to a week.
Cooking the syrup
- Scrape the mashed fruit and sugar slush into a pot and bring to a simmer. Once the mixture is bubbling foam may rise to the surface-don’t worry it will dissipate as the syrup cools.
- Simmer the syrup for about 10-15 minutes on medium heat. This is not supposed to be a thick-molasses like syrup, but a thin one with a sugar content similar to simple syrup.
- Strain the syrup to remove the solids. You can save the cooked blueberries and add them to jam, or mix them with some oats, form into balls and leave them out for birds and squirrels.
- If you want to make a chunky syrup with the fruit left in it for using on pancakes, leave the fruit in the syrup.
Canning and storing
- Put the syrup back into the pot and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, beat in the lemon juice and pour the piping hot syrup into jars leaving a half inch of headspace. Process the syrup in a water bath for 10 minutes per pint.
- Alternately, you can pour piping hot syrup into jars nearly to the brim, screw on the lids and turn the jars upside down. They’ll seal just like jars of maple syrup.
- The finished syrup will keep for months in the fridge if you don’t want to can it and store in a pantry.
KayT
Hi -
What does fermenting it a little bit do to the final syrup that a cooked syrup right away doesn't have?
(I.e. why would one ferment it instead of just making the syrup from the beginning? )
Also, what are indications to look for that it has fermented enough to proceed to cooking?
I.e. a week in hot weather different from a week in cold winter, etc.
Thank you -
Alan Bergo
Hi KayT. The fermentation is light her and I'll admit the name is a little misleading. The very brief fermentation won't interfere with the flavor of the finished product. If you want, you can skip the fermentation and simply put the mashed fruit and sugar in the fridge for a few days until the mixture is juicy and liquid. The point of this recipe is that it uses only the natural juice of the fruit instead of using water. This makes for a syrup with a stronger blueberry flavor than the vast majority of recipes available where fruit is mixed with water and sugar. It is not fermented long like sauerkraut and will not taste sour or fermented at all. Fermentation is a spectrum though, and if you want to take it farther, you can, but I wouldn't go longer than a week.