Description
Homemade strawberry syrup brings summer’s sweetest moments to your kitchen. Fresh berries and simple ingredients create a delightful sauce perfect for pancakes, cocktails, and dessert drizzles.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups (480 ml, 16 oz) strawberries, fresh or frozen, hulled and chopped
- ½ cup (100 g, 3.5 oz) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120 ml, 4 fl oz) water
- 1 tsp (5 ml, 0.17 fl oz) lemon juice
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml, 0.08 fl oz) vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Preparation: Combine ripe strawberries, granulated sugar, and water in a medium saucepan, creating a foundation for a luscious syrup.
- Boiling Process: Ignite the heat to medium, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar completely, allowing the mixture to transition into a dynamic rolling boil.
- Simmering Transformation: Reduce heat, maintaining a gentle bubbling that will gradually break down strawberries, concentrating their natural essence while developing a rich, ruby-colored consistency.
- Flavor Extraction: Tenderly crush strawberries using a potato masher, releasing intense flavors and integrating the syrup’s texture for approximately 10-12 minutes until the liquid thickens and berries soften.
- Final Enhancement: Remove from heat, incorporating fresh lemon juice and vanilla extract to brighten the syrup’s complex flavor profile, then decide between a smooth strained version or a rustic, textured consistency by using a fine mesh sieve.
- Storage and Preservation: Cool the syrup briefly at room temperature, transfer to a clean glass container with a secure lid, and refrigerate, ensuring optimal taste and quality for up to one week – ready to elevate various culinary creations.
Notes
- Choose Peak Freshness: Select deeply colored, fragrant strawberries at maximum ripeness for most intense flavor and natural sweetness.
- Control Heat Carefully: Maintain gentle simmer to prevent sugar burning and ensure smooth syrup consistency without bitter undertones.
- Master Texture Technique: Gently crush strawberries while cooking to release maximum flavor and create desired syrup thickness without aggressive mashing.
- Enhance Flavor Complexity: Add lemon juice and vanilla extract after cooking to brighten taste profile and prevent potential bitter notes from extended heat exposure.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks, Drinks
- Method: Simmering
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5
- Calories: 60
- Sugar: 20 g
- Sodium: 1 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg