A friend has a massive blackberry bramble at the back of her property. I went over there the other day and picked about a pound – there were thousands… and thousands more at all stages of development. Which is particularly good news, because I particularly like fresh blackberry syrup on pancakes. It’s about as difficult as making tea.  Here’s how:

Start with at least ½ pound fresh black berries, and rinse them in a colander. Put fruit into a relatively small pot (relative to the amount of fruit you’re using) and add a splash of water (to cover the pot’s bottom.) Put a lid on it; bring to a simmer over medium heat.

When it begins to froth and bubble up, remove the lid, lower the heat, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. The next part is key: Strain the hot syrup (BE CAREFUL!) through a coarse sieve (as opposed to fine.) Fair warning: this step is a little tricky partly because it’s hot, and partly because the sieve clogs up kind of quickly. (What you really want is what we in the biz call a China Cap: a cone-shaped sieve that has small holes, as opposed to mesh like a regular kitchen sieve.) The back of a large spoon or ladle is a good way to push the fruit through the sieve – probably in a couple batches. But alas, it’s worth the effort!! You’ll probably want to add some sugar, but do it at the end. Store leftover syrup wrapped in the fridge.

Oh yes… you may certainly experiment with other berries (straw; rasp; blue; a crazy combo of berries and stone fruit; etc.) It’s not a bad idea for gift-giving season. Rock the Fruit Syrup, foodies!

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