I enjoyed a past due, quiet weekend at home, on the 10 & 11th, it was wonderful!
Didn’t go anywhere, kept the laundry up, reviewed things on line, and read. Wrapped up with some delicious pork steaks on the grill. I put out a jar of my rhubarb sauce and it was a nice side to the pork.
There are signs everywhere for blueberries here in the Ozark Mountains. We have the wonderful Persimmon Hill Farms in Lampe, MO, but folks from Cassville were also advertising berries for sale. This past week I made 2 cheesecakes, one plain and the other peanut butter. I wanted a bottle of Persimmon Hill Amaretto Sauce to go with my vanilla cheesecake. Since I didn’t get it I’m thinking I may need to go purchase fresh berries next weekend along with their fabulous sauce. As I always tell folks, ‘I could just put a straw in their amaretto sauce and slurp’, it is so delicious.
The blueberry sauce I’m featuring this week has been featured before in the column. In all sincerity it’s absolutely perfect for your pancakes, ice cream, pound cake and more! I haven’t ever put the amaretto in this sauce because I want it to be used in multiple ways. However; that doesn’t mean you couldn’t add a bit of the amaretto when you’re using the recipe for desserts, crepes, etc. Crepes, oh yes, that’s something I need to get busy making for the freezer. They would also be delicious with this sauce. My dad, Jerry, was telling me tonight how he had blueberry pancakes for lunch this past Sunday. There was, however, one missing ingredient, blueberry sauce, they ran out! He said they were still good with maple syrup, but bah humbug! Let me go run and check a price for you real quick….
OK, the Great Value, 12 oz. blueberry syrup is 3.32. If you go for Smucker’s blueberry syrup you’re probably going another dollar in price. Personally, I think you’ll be a great deal happier with your homemade versions.
The recipe attached will provide 48 ounces of syrup. Berries will cost about 10.00, sugar and sure-jell will be the biggest costs following the berries. 4 containers of the Walmart syrup will cost 13.28, and it is not the top in taste/quality. You do the math, I think it’s worth it to wash and de-stem berries and make at least a double batch of the syrup. Ut oh, my creative side just interrupted me to suggest Christmas gifts for your neighbors this year. Pick up a box of blueberries, pancake mix and your pint jar of syrup. What a delightful gift to enjoy during the holiday season. Holiday season? Why wait? This makes a good birthday present, thank you gift, hostess gift, and so on. Sure you could purchase it from the store, but it’s so much more meaningful with your special touch of ‘homemade’ in the bag.
Flavor switch outs will work just fine. One of my favorite pancakes is banana or banana and pecan. I haven’t figured out a homemade syrup for these just yet. Currently I think regular maple is a good topping or maybe something on the nutty side.
Besides the syrups you’ll also enjoy the blueberry jams when the cold winds blow.
When you’re preparing syrups and jams you’re going to realize how easy they are to implement into cake layers and toppings. On the fourth of July my husband likes ‘trifles’. Blueberries and strawberries are the perfect fruit for a patriotic trifle. Use a cut up pound cake or angel food cake and the dessert is complete. One thing I will note regarding strawberry jams. I prefer strawberry freezer jam over regular canned strawberry. The flavor is fresh on the palate, compared to cooked jam. When you put a layer of fruit into the trifle, come in with a layer of plain pudding drizzled with a matching sauce. I don’t always use pudding either, frequently I do a rich cream cheese style fill.
This should have you off and running in the kitchen! Simply yours, The Covered Dish.
Blueberry Pancake Syrup
2 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon of dry pectin*
24 ounces fresh blueberries
16 ounces cold water
1 teaspoon butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Yield, 3 pints blueberry syrup
After you have purchased the pectin you will need to measure the contents and then use only 1/2 of the pectin. With Sure-Jell this was the amount listed
above.
Consult the recipe, in the sure-jell box, before making the syrup. Because this is a syrup and not a jam you can use fewer berries, as indicated above.
You will need 16 oz. of cold water and it is not listed on the jam recipes. I have implemented only 1 cup of sugar. The amount is 1/4 of what is ‘usually’ called for with regular pectin for jam.
After the fruit is washed I like to use a potato masher and crush about 1/2-2/3rds. of the berries.
Follow the instructions for making jam except you will use my changes.
Immediately fill sterilized jars with syrup. Boil flats in a saucepan for five minutes & lightly dry. Clean rims of jars removing any wet product and begin sealing. Place jars on grates in the bottom of a deep stockpot. Pour warm water over the tops of the jars until there is at least one inch covering the tops. Adding 2-4 tablespoons of vinegar will assist with sediment forming on the jars. Bring to a boil and time for ten minutes. Turn off heat and remove jars from stockpot. Allow to cool completely, moving jars without too much jostling.
Syrup will thicken a bit as it cools. Keep in mind this is a syrup, not a thick jam.
*Dry (1.75 oz.) Sure-Jell was used in this recipe
