Sweet, Tart, Fresh Berry Syrup

Summer berries are my favorite! Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, each so delicate and slightly tart, sweet, and oh so juicy. I could eat these all day fresh from the shrubs. One of my favorite activities with the kids is to go berry picking. In the matter of a few hours we have picked buckets of strawberries or blueberries. If we had raspberries grown locally, we would most definitely venture out for them too. The kids love the hunt for the fresh ripest fruit and to fill our buckets as full as possible.

Of course, this means that we end up with pounds and pounds of fresh ripe fruit when we do these adventures. Then I have the challenge of coming up with new and interesting ways to eat these after we have eaten our fill of the freshest fruits.

It is fun to come up with other ways to enjoy them and incorporate them into our meals. We enjoy berry muffins, scones, breads, and puddings. One of our favorite meals to enjoy fresh fruit with is breakfast and obviously that includes our favorite waffles. A simple way to include them is just to toss some berries into your waffles as you make them. But a warm fruit syrup is even better in my opinion.

This is a simple way to use a bunch of very ripe fruits and can be done with a variety of fruits. For my latest version of this syrup I used a mix of raspberries and blue berries. The extra texture from the blueberries helped to thicken the syrup and added a little extra depth to the flavors. In fact, this may be my new favorite syrup… Move over Maple!

To create this syrup, I rinse my fresh berries and pour 4 cups of raspberries into a medium sauce pan, added ¾ cup of sugar and 3 tbsp of vanilla extract. Turn the burner on a medium high heat and warmed the berries until the berries popped. Be sure to stir as it heats to prevent the berries from sticking to the pan, this also helps to break up the berries and pop the fruit. After about 10 minutes of boiling the berries the fruit should be in a very liquid state.

While I love fresh raspberries, I do not enjoy the seeds as much in my syrups so I then pour the hot berries into a larger bowl through a fine mesh strainer. Using a large spoon, scrape the sides of the strainer to work the juice down into the bowl and leave the seeds in the strainer.

Once the strainer stops dripping the delicious raspberry juice, pour the raspberry juice back into the saucepan. Set aside ¼ cup to mix with a 1 tbsp of corn starch to thicken the syrup. Mixing the cornstarch into the small portion of the juice helps to eliminate clumps prior to combining this with the juice in the saucepan. Allow this mixture to boil again for a couple minutes before adding in the blueberries.

Finally, add the blueberries once the raspberry sauce has thickened to the point that the sauce coats the spoon as you pull it from the pan. Again, heat the mixture on a medium high heat for approximately 10 minutes to burst the blueberries. You must mix frequently to prevent the mixture from sticking to the pan and to help the berries to pop.

Once the majority of the berries have burst and the sauce has thickened, remove from heat, allow to cool for a few minutes prior to use to prevent burns from over eager tasters. I love this sauce warm, but it does taste equally delicious cold from the fridge.

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Fresh Mixed Berry Syrup

Makes approximately 24 servings

Prep time 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups Fresh Raspberries

• 2 Cups Fresh Blueberries

• 3/4 cup Sugar

• 3 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

• 1 Tbsp Corn Starch

1. Rinse all fruit

2. Place 4 cups of Raspberries in medium- high saucepan over medium heat with 3/4 cups sugar, and 3 tbsp of vanilla extract

3. Bring to boil and turn down to medium heat for approximately 10 minutes mixing frequently to prevent fruit from sticking to pan and allowing the fruit to burst

4. Using a large spoon, scrape the sides of the strainer to work the juice down into the bowl and leave the seeds in the strainer. Once the strainer stops dripping, pour the raspberry juice back into the saucepan setting aside ¼ cup of the juice

5. Mix the 1/4 cup of juice with a 1 tbsp of corn starch until the mixture is smooth and clump free

6. Add the corn starch and juice mixture to the sauce pan and bring to boil

7. Add the blueberries once the raspberry sauce has thickened to the point that the sauce coats the spoon as you pull it from the pan.

8. Heat the mixture on a medium high heat for approximately 10 minutes to burst the blueberries. Mix frequently to avoid the fruit sticking to the pan

9. Once the majority of the berries have burst and the sauce has thickened, remove from heat

10. Allow to cool for a few minutes prior to use