Fermented Blueberry Syrup

A hand-carved spoon of apple wood filled with blueberry syrup drizzled on a plate surrounded by fresh blueberries.

5 from 1 vote

A simple, lightly fermented sweet blueberry syrup for cocktails ice cream or pancakes using the natural water of the fruit, sugar, and aromatics. Makes about 4 cups.

Prep Time15

Fermenting time4

Course: Condiment

Cuisine: American

Keyword: blueberry simple syrup, blueberry syrup recipe, easy blueberry syrup, huckleberry syrup recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 97kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 5

Equipment

1 ½ gallon mason jar or similar
1 Non reactive lid
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.

Video

Notes

Fermented Huckleberry Syrup

As blueberries and huckleberries are related and interchangeable in recipes, this method can make a good huckleberry syrup recipe too. Evergreen huckleberries are probably my favorite.

Nutrition