Fresh Fruit Syrup (Any Berry or Stone Fruit)

Before you start

A good fruit syrup tastes like the fruit, not like jam. The trick is short cooking: ripe fruit, sugar and a little water simmer just long enough for the fruit to collapse and release its juice, then everything is strained while the flavor is still fresh. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches, apricots and plums all work with the same template.

The ratio here is equal weights of fruit and sugar, with half that weight of water. That gives a syrup sweet enough to keep for a week or two in the fridge and concentrated enough that 15 to 20 ml flavors a drink. Very tart fruit like sour cherries or red currants may want a touch more sugar; very sweet fruit benefits from a squeeze of lemon at the end. Taste before you bottle.

Ingredients

• 300 g (about 2 cups) ripe berries or pitted stone fruit — hulled, halved or chopped; fresh or frozen
• 300 g (1½ cups) granulated sugar
• 150 ml (⅔ cup) water
• 5-10 ml (1-2 tsp) fresh lemon juice — to taste, strained
• 1 pinch fine salt

Method

1. Prepare the fruit: hull strawberries, pit cherries and plums, and cut peaches or apricots into 2 cm (¾ in) pieces. There is no need to peel stone fruit; the skins add color.
2. Combine the fruit, sugar, water and salt in a saucepan. Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes so the sugar starts drawing out juice.
3. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then lower the heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fruit is soft and has given up its color.
4. Mash the fruit lightly in the pan to release more juice. Avoid a hard boil, which turns the flavor toward cooked jam and can make the syrup set.
5. Pour everything into a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Let it drain for about 15 minutes, pressing very gently once or twice. Pressing hard pushes pulp through and makes the syrup cloudy.
6. Stir in lemon juice a teaspoon at a time until the syrup tastes bright rather than flat. Let it cool to room temperature, then bottle, label and refrigerate.

Tips for success

• Frozen fruit works well and is often riper than out-of-season fresh fruit. Add it straight from the freezer and give it 2 to 3 more minutes.
• Save the strained pulp. Stirred into yogurt or oatmeal it is too good to waste, though keep it refrigerated and eat it within a few days.
• Mix two fruits that ripen together: strawberry with rhubarb, peach with raspberry, plum with blackberry.

Substitutions

Granulated sugar

Honey gives a floral syrup but browns faster; keep the heat low. Less sugar is possible, but the syrup will spoil sooner and taste thinner.

Lemon juice

A pinch of citric acid sharpens the flavor without adding citrus taste, which is helpful with delicate fruit like white peach.

Water

For a stronger syrup, replace up to half of the water with unsweetened juice of the same fruit.

Variations

Herbed fruit syrup

Add a few basil, mint or thyme sprigs as the syrup comes off the heat, steep 10 minutes, then strain.

Fruit soda

Stir 30 ml syrup into 180 ml chilled soda water over ice for a quick homemade soda.

Troubleshooting

The syrup gelled in the fridge

High-pectin fruit was boiled too long. Warm it gently with 30 ml water to loosen, and next time keep it to a gentle simmer.

It looks muddy and opaque

Pulp was pressed through the strainer. Restrain through a coffee filter or a doubled cheesecloth and press less next time.

It tastes flat and only sweet

Add lemon juice or a pinch of salt. Underripe fruit also lacks aroma; use fruit that smells strongly of itself.

Storage

Keep refrigerated in a clean, covered container and use within 1 to 2 weeks. For longer keeping, freeze it in ice cube trays and thaw cubes as needed. Throw it out if you see mold, bubbling or an alcoholic smell.