The blackberries that we picked on Sunday were very soft (overripe) and juicy, the sort of berries that are best for fresh-eating and making syrup. The riper the fruit, the lower its pectin content, and pectin (along with acid) is what causes a jam or jelly to set, or thicken.
I have both low pectin and high pectin fruits at my disposal. When I want to preserve the high pectin fruits, I tend to make jam or jelly. And with the low pectin ones, I either freeze them or make a syrup. The obvious use for fruity syrups is poured over pancakes or waffles. But fruity syrups can also be poured over plain yogurt, baked custard, ice cream, or plain bread pudding. Fruity syrups can also be added to tea, plain water, or fizzy water, to enhance what would be an ordinary beverage.
When I first began my garden-fruit preservation journey, I knew nothing about pectin content in fruit. Everything I learned was by trial and error. We had wild blackberry canes just down the road from our apartment. On Saturday afternoons in late summer, we'd walk down with plastic shopping bags to fill. My son was young and as young children often are, picky about texture, so I thought blackberry jelly might be acceptable. Unfortunately, I had no idea that blackberry juice from very ripe berries wouldn't fully set. What I ended up with was a thickened liquid that would leak through a slice of bread. It then occurred to us that perhaps this would make better pancake syrup than jelly. And that began a 30 year tradition of late-summer blackberry syrup-making for me.
In general, I've found the following to be best for making fruity syrup (both juicy and low-pectin):
- overripe fruit that is also juicy (so mealy apples wouldn't work well in this application)
- blueberries
- strawberries
- ripe raspberries and blackberries
- elderberries
- sweet cherries
- Italian plums
- juicy peaches
- pineapple
To make syrup, I first extract the juice, using the technique described in this post. Once I have a juice, I cook it for about 5 minutes with sugar, using about 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar for every cup of juice. I taste the syrup to see if it needs more acid (lemon juice), water, or sugar, and adjust the taste accordingly. Once it's made, I either can or freeze the finished product.
Last night after dinner, I made 3 pints of blackberry syrup. This will be delicious for leisurely Saturday breakfasts in winter.
