August 29, 2010

Beautiful Blackberries!

There's nothing quite like freshly made
blackberry syrup to enjoy with
Grandma's Waffles!

YUM YUM!

Memories are stirred from
my own childhood days.
We would pick
SO. MANY. BERRIES.
that they would seem to take over the kitchen.

The children and I together got one large bowl full ~
And it only took an hour of picking to fill it.
The process of straining and
cooking up the berries was time-consuming.
BUT well worth the effort!



It's a treat when they are easy to pick!



Reaching for the "best" berries...
always a *little* bit too far away!



Watch out for thorns...they really grab on!


Often they hide under leaves...we hunt for them.


OH. THE. BLISS.

That first taste of yummy syrup was payment enough.
Want to know the "recipe"?
Want to know the "secret"?

I want to tell you that it has taken years to chisel this out.
There was no "tried and true" recipe that I knew of.
It was all "trial and error".
Many of the past jars of "syrup" were really
nothing more than less than firm jelly.
I had to heat it up to get it to the right consistency.

But now...
I think I've got it!
And I'm going to share the "secret"
with all of you! :)

How to go from this...


To this...


To bottled up yumminess!



~ Blackberry Syrup ~


10 cups extracted Blackberry Juice
1/4 package Certo Light Crystals (1 Tbsp)
7 cups Evaporated Cane Juice (Or White Granulated Sugar)
(This is enough for six pints of syrup)

How to make it?

~ Pick the berries

~ Wash the berries

~ Heat the berries just a little and mash
with a potato masher to get the juices flowing

~ Strain the berries with cheesecloth or a strainer to extract the juice
**Be patient**
This step takes quite awhile ~
I found that it took my batch about 4 or 5 hours of drip-drip-dripping :)

~ Measure the juice and hopefully you have enough,
if not, adjust the recipe accordingly

~ Wash your pint-size jars (2 cups) and lids
in hot soapy water and rinse REALLY well

~ Put your glass jars on a cookie sheet in the oven set at
225 degrees to sterilize them
(they should be in there for at least 20 minutes...
leave them while you make the syrup)

~ Boil water in your canner (fill it a few inches from the top)

~ Boil a little pot of water for softening the sealer lids
(don't put the lids in just yet)

~ In a very large pot put your blackberry juice and stir into it
the 1 Tbsp of Certo mixed with 1/4 cup of the sugar

~ Bring to a boil over very high heat (stirring)

~ Stir in remaining sugar and continue stirring...
return to a boil and boil hard (cannot stir down) for 1 minute

~ Remove from heat and stir and skim off foam for 5 minutes

~ During this 5 minutes of stirring,
put your sealer lids into the recently boiled water

~ Remove jars from the oven and fill to 1/4 inch from the top with
syrup, wipe with a clean cloth and place the sealer lid on and screw band
until finger-tip tightened

~ Place in the canning rack and lower into the
boiling water canner

~ Be sure the water covers the tops of your lids by one inch

~ Cover and keep at a gentle boil and simmer 10 minutes

~ Remove from the canner and set aside to cool

~ You should hear the *pop*pop*pop* of sealing jars within minutes of
removal from the hot water bath...SUCH a satisfying sound! :)

Any questions?
Feel free to ask!
I do hope you give it a try...
it really is super yummy!

Blessings,
Camille

14 comments:

Christa said...

Your Blackberry syrup looks delicious! We just made lots of blackberry jam from the berries we picked on our property (they grow wild) and a few from Russell Creek, an Amish community near by. Don't you just love picking berries with your kids and then making something with them? What memories for the kids, don't you think?
BTW, I'm working on an e-mail for you.
Have a great Monday and the rest of the week my friend,

Christa

Camille said...

Dear Christa ~ How lovely that you got all those wonderful berries! I think blackberries really are my favourite to hunt and savour...and they are *free*...apart from the payment of scrapes and prickles and time. :) Yes, the memories are wonderful to tuck away as well...I think the children like the eating the best though ~ all part of it I suppose. I am looking forward to your email. You have a great week as well! :)

With love,
Camille

Nadine said...

Yum!
Blackberry picking is on our to-do list for this week, one of our favorite jams to make and eat! :)

Blessings!
~Nadine

Intentional Living Homestead said...

I have never tasted blackberry syrup...sure sounds delicious and definitely with waffles. Yum.

Have a blessed day.

Barbara said...

My husband loves blackberries, he would love this syrup, hugs Barbara

Lady Farmer said...

Thanks, Camille!
I have been wanting to make blackberry syrup! Glad you hit on just the right combo for your recipe. I can't wait to try it! The berries are on and I will to pick some today!
Thanks for sharing your sectet!
Blessings!

Camille said...

Dear Nadine ~ Yummy...blackberries are SO good! Enjoy your canning and preserving days...soon winter will be upon us! :)

Dear Treasures ~ It is a family tradition...we think it's pretty special. :)

Dear Barbara ~ Oh yes, I am sure he would...and I am sure you would too! :)

Dear Raeann ~ I am so excited that you are going to give it a try! Do let me know what you think! I hope you like it!! :)

Blessings to you all!
In Him,
Camille

Linda said...

Hi Camille,
You sure have given me many ideas as to how to enjoy these blackberries. I have many blackberry bushes in my back garden!! I love these berries.
Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
Blessings to you.
Hugs.

Camille said...

Dear Linda ~ How WONDERFUL that you have all those yuummy berries just waiting to be used up and enjoyed! This syrup is super good, but there are other ways to enjoy their yummy goodness too. I make a pie with fresh berries and thicken it a bit and add some sugar. Top with whipped cream on a graham wafer crumb crust...yum yum yum! AND super easy! You could also freeze the berries to be used later in the winter. Oh...you've made me jealous with your very own patch of these berries!! Enjoy enjoy enjoy!! :)

Blessings,
Camille

Jill said...

This looks really yummy! I remember picking raspberries in our yard when I was little and as fast as we were picking them we ate them! LOL So neat making syrup. I'd like to try this! Have a great week.
Blessings,
Jill

Unknown said...

MMMM! LOVE blackberries! I made jam and froze some of mine for baking this winter.

Camille said...

Dear Jill ~ Oh yes, eating berries while filling a bucket was the way we did it too! :) I hope you do give this a try...so rewarding to make something so yummy!

Dear Jenn ~ I like to freeze berries for use in the winter too. I have even frozen berries to make into jam in the cooler winter months. How lovely that you made jam...your family is blessed! :)

Blessings to you!
In Him,
Camille

Heather said...

Mmmmm!
Love the pics too. Makes you want to use the recipe because you make it look so fun!

(Your daughter's jacket is making me hot. Another heat wave here..even at night!)

Camille said...

Oh Heather...MORE heat?? We woke up to a VERY rainy and cold fall-looking day! Funny how it can be so different in this vast country of ours! :)

With Love,
Camille