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Life is good….. and so is this blueberry-lemon syrup! These are plump, juicy blueberries and the combination of blueberries and lemons compliment each other so well in this wonderful fruit syrup.
Homemade fruit syrups are easy to make and really so much more flavorful than anything you can buy in stores. The fruit just seems to shine through and you can actually taste the “fruit” flavor rather than just the sugary sweetness.
I could tell you that the blueberries in this syrup came from our three blueberry bushes but that would be fibbing. Nope, we graciously shared our blueberries with the friendly deer in our woods and they enjoyed them so much I had to resort to the store bought variety of blueberries. We do not have a lemon tree but it makes me wonder if we did have one if the deer would also rob us of lemons! I bet not…. 🙂
There are some disadvantages to living in the woods, such as providing blueberries to the deer, the raccoons help themselves to our plum tree and can strip it clean overnight.
The long legged blue heron loves the salmon in our creek and the huge old owl made off with our kitty. This week it is the squirrel that is harassing us by throwing every pinecone from our tall tree down on our lawn. But still….life is good even when we have to buy the blueberries.
We refuse to reserve this delightful syrup just for pancakes and waffles and really enjoyed it on our dish of vanilla ice cream. It was also delicious the next morning drizzled over a dish of plain Greek yogurt.
To make this blueberry-lemon syrup, we added the blueberries to a saucepan with just a little water to get them going, then simmered them for a bit. The hot blueberries were poured through a sieve and pressed down to extract all the juices.
Then the juice went back to the saucepan with sugar, lemon zest strips lemon juice and a little lemon oil. This mixture was boiled until it reached a 225°F temperature then removed from the heat.
A key ingredient that really makes a difference in this syrup is a tablespoon of vanilla that is added after the sauce was removed from the heat.
More sauce recipes to check out:
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Blueberry-Lemon Syrup
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Ingredients
- 6 cups frozen blueberries, or fresh blueberries
- ½ cup water
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- zest from 1 lemon
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium size saucepan, combine the blueberries and the water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Pour the blueberries through a sieve set over a bowl, pressing down on the blueberries, mashing and stirring to extract the juices. Discard the solids and measure the liquid. It should be about 3 cups of juice, if not, add enough water to equal 3 cups.
- Return the blueberry juice to the saucepan, add the sugar, salt, lemon zest, lemon oil and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil the mixture over medium-high heat until it registers 225°F on a candy thermometer, about 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, discard the lemon zest strips and add the butter and the vanilla, stirring to incorporate well. Allow the syrup to cool, and pour into a one-pint mason jar.
- This syrup makes about 2 cups and will keep, refrigerated, for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Deer will eat anything, won’t they? We have some friends who have deer. And rose bushes. Without blooms — the deer just love them. Can’t imagine how they get through the thorns. Anyway, this is such good stuff — thanks.
Hi, John….Yes, and the deer also love my beautiful petunias. ;(
LOL at the deer eating your blueberries! When I was a girl, we had cherry trees. The birds got the lion’s share of those cherries until a robin built a nest in one and chased every other bird away!
Oh, Noel, that is funny. Maybe we can get a bird to nest in our plumb tree? Thanks for sharing your bird story 🙂
Oh this sounds SO good! Perfect to top my homemade vanilla ice cream that I made the other day!
Thanks for your comments, Diana….I know you will enjoy this syrup on your ice cream 🙂
I had no idea that it was this easy to create this simple syrup! I’ve been wanting to create a lemon syrup for well over a year now! I can’t wait to try yours! Lovely photos too! xoxoxo
Hi, Colleen…Lemon syrup sounds lovely! I hope you post the recipe when you make it. Thanks for your comments. 🙂
This sounds delightful-I typically like serving a blueberry sauce on French toast so I would love this! And I’m sorry the critters steal your produce and fish, but mostly I’m sorry that owl stole your kitty!!! ?