Fruit syrups have become much-requested favorites in my family. They take less effort than home-canned jams and jellies, especially if you make a jar at a time from fruit stashed in the freezer. Simply defrosting the fruit separates most of the juice, which becomes the syrup, from the still-usable solids.
Single-jar fruit syrups have other advantages. You just need a bag or two of frozen fruit. When stored in the fridge, they can be made with less sugar than home-canned versions. Kitchen multitaskers can even defrost the fruit overnight, cook up the syrup between rounds of sourdough pancakes and serve the topping warm.
Frozen strawberries convert easily into a syrup because they retain their taste and texture when drained of juice. I freeze the leftover pulp in an ice-cube tray to drop into smoothies, mix it with applesauce to dry into fruit leather or just refrigerate it to stir into that week’s hot cereal. Swap plums, peaches or cherries into the recipe for a similar use-it-all approach. Raspberries or blackberries can be as delicious but leave a seedy pulp best mixed with a dense fruit, like apricots.
For complex flavor, I add a dried edible flower or herb, like the lavender here, chamomile, rose petals, rosemary, thyme, basil or a bay leaf. I suggest cooking your first batch for just a minute or two, since syrup thickens as it cools. If it’s too thin, cook the next batch a little longer. Stir your creation into plain yogurt, drizzled it over ice cream, or pour it on Sourdough Power Waffles.
Frozen Strawberry Syrup
Makes about 1 cup
1-1/2 pounds frozen strawberries, defrosted
6–8 tablespoons granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon dried lavender
Set a colander over a large glass measuring cup or bowl. Pour the defrosted fruit into the colander, along with its juice. Stir gently, and then let the fruit sit until the juice stops dripping. Set the solids aside for another use.
Measure the juice and pour it into a large saucepan. Add half as much sugar as juice to the saucepan; for example, if you measured 1 cup of juice, add 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) of sugar. Stir in the lemon juice. Enclose the lavender in a spice bag or tea infuser before adding it to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and then let it cook for one to two minutes, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup starts to cling to a spoon. As the syrup boils, use a slotted spoon to skim off as much foam as possible. If desired, continue cooking the syrup for up to 15 minutes for a thicker syrup.
Remove the syrup from the heat, pull out the lavender and let the syrup cool for about 10 minutes. Ladle the syrup into a small glass container. Use the syrup warm, or let it cool completely before covering it with a lid and refrigerating it.