Making Strawberry Syrup

Back in the spring I bought a flat of strawberries for a great price.  I have it say, it's lot of fun to buy a LOT of strawberries.  We ate some, jammed some, and the rest I put in a big bag in the freezer.  I had visions of canning strawberry jam in the middle of the bleak Ohio winter.

Well, it's only summer but my freezer is packed and the tomato sauce season has barely even started.  And you know what?  Jamming wasn't all that much fun.  So I decided I might as well just use up the strawberries. 

I went for the super simple and made strawberry syrup.  I loosely followed this recipe but I didn't  measure anything. 

Boil the (hulled) berries in water.  How much?  I don't know.  Enough to make all the strawberries float?  Enough to fill about 2/3 of the pot? 

I simmered until the liquid was bright red, and the strawberries looked like they had given up a lot of their color and juices. 

Now that I look at it, I suppose I could have simmered it longer, since it still has some color.  Oh well.

Strain out the berries.  Don't squish out more juice if you want the syrup to be clear.  If you don't mind it cloudy with strawberry particles, squish away.

And don't throw away the pulp!  The recipe said to do it, but DON'T.  Puree it.  Use it in something, I'm sure you can think of something.  I made double chocolate strawberry cupcakes. Oh, you want that recipe?  Well, you'll just have to wait until tomorrow, when I post it.  Because I don't have the photo right now.

Add sugar.  How much?  I don't know, how sweet to you want it?  I think I added about 3 cups.  Taste it and decide for yourself!

Simmer until the sugar dissolves and until it's as thick and syrupy as you want it.  Cool it off, pour into a jar, and keep in the fridge.








What to do with strawberry syrup?   I add a bit to plain water to jazz it up.  I added it to club soda for a bubbly strawberry soda, which was lots of fun. You could pour it on ice cream or yogurt or pancakes.  I'm sure there are lots of other things to do with it, because it's delicious.  I mean, it's sweet and it's strawberry, so what's not to like?

In fact, I've found it so nice to have around that I may just make this again.   Of course, now I have no strawberries, so if the dead of winter I will have to buy frozen strawberries.