Blackberry Syrup

I wanted to jot down a quick post about the incredibly yummy Blackberry Syrup we just made! We picked the blackberries up at the farmer's market in Little Italy this past weekend. The 3 pack tray cost us $12, which at the time seemed ridiculously expensive considering we usually pick them for free, but now that I've tasted the syrup it was definitely worth it. We didn't have any other blackberries in the pantry yet, so having these two small jars feels like a windfall! The best part is that because we made them ourselves we were able to make them sugar-free, so I can enjoy them without any guilt and without making myself sick.

We didn't follow any particular recipe for the syrup. All we did was dump the three trays of berries into a medium-sized sauce pan and add about 1/4 cup of water. We heated them on low until they were soft and then mashed them with a potato masher. Next we let them simmer for about 5 minutes before straining the pulp through a fine wire strainer. Using a spatula, we gently pushed the pulp through the strainer making sure to only push hard enough to let the juice escape, but not the seeds or the larger pieces of flesh. After we were done we had about 2/3 of a cup of juice left. We put that in a pan with 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of Splenda (If you're using sugar that would be 2/3 of a cup, or a 1:1 ratio of juice to sugar) and brought the mixture to a boil before lowering it to a simmer. Once the syrup thickened we poured it into two 1/2 pint (8 oz.) jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace. Then we processed them in a water bath for 10 minutes and TA-DA...Blackberry Syrup!

We hope you enjoy it as much as we do, and as always if you decide to make it then please let us know what you think! Until next time...