Homemade Strawberry Syrup
I'd been planning to make a homemade strawberry syrup for a long time. Although we try not to overuse it, the children really like to make quick drinks from it. Of course, the strawberry syrup made this way is much better than the one on the market. You know exactly what you put in it and, even if it's consumed occasionally, it would be better to be as "clean" as possible. I really like this recipe because you get not only a super nice syrup with intense color, but also a tasty and dense strawberry jam - and all these with minimal effort!
Following the same process, I made the recipe with sweetener instead of sugar (tagatose, stevia or erythritol). It's wonderful and with no remorse, even in the cold season. We liked it so much that the children have already used a bottle of syrup over the past week. Now I have work to do, while the strawberry season is still on!
Rinse the strawberries clean, then hull them. I sorted them as for the frozen strawberry recipe - the ones used the for syrup and jam are crushed and bigger. I froze the small and medium strawberries whole.
So, I placed the strawberries for the syrup in a large bowl and added sugar.
Mix them carefully with a spoon or shake the bowl.
By the way, if you have bigger strawberries, I would recommend cutting them into halves or quarters, to be able to better release the juice.
Cover the bowl with a lid or foil and refrigerate for a minimum of 12 hours, which means overnight.
I left them for 24 hours because I didn't have time for them, they kept fine.
After this time, you will notice that the strawberries release plenty of juice. That's exactly what we need for a good syrup.
One hour before making the syrup, remove the bowl from the fridge and mix carefully. At the bottom, there is sugar left, we want to make it dissolve - this way, the syrup for the winter will be better preserved.
After 1 hour, carefully strain the strawberry liquid - I used a ladle, avoiding the fruit.
Here you can see the diet syrup, with sweetener. I preferred not to boil it - I poured it into disposable cups and froze it. But I also made another batch, which I boiled :)
In order to obtain the best possible syrup, I recommend passing it through a fine mesh strainer before boiling.
With these quantities I made approximately 600-700ml of syrup.
I added 1/4 teaspoon of lemon salt and placed the syrup over heat.
When it comes to a boil, mix well, leave over heat for another 1 minute. Then quickly pour it into dry bottles or jars.
It shouldn't be boiled for too long because it will change its color and taste.
Now comes the beautiful part with the strawberry jam - place the remaining strawberries over heat with some lemon juice and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Pour into dry jars and seal tightly.
You'll see what a miracle of jam you'll have - dense, colorful and fragrant!
That's what I got from 1kg of strawberries - 700ml of syrup and 2 small jars of jam.
I'm very excited about this method, I think it will be my favorite in the future. Two birds, one stone - we have both syrup and jam!
The syrup has the perfect color and aroma. My little girls love it. In the picture, I was trying to show you its real color, without filters, and I think I did :)
Enjoy!
