Blueberry Syrup: Marketing Florida Agriculture

Fruit-5019

Ingredients
4 cups	blueberries, stemmed, rinsed and drained
3 cups	water
2 strips	lemon peel
3 cups	sugar
1	vanilla bean
	orange juice or lime juice to taste

Preparation
Pour the blueberries into a saucepan and crush them with a wooden spoon until most of the skins are broken. Add 1 cup of water and strips of lemon peel and bring to a simmer. Turn heat down to low and cook the berries for 5 minutes until just under a simmer. Pour the hot berries into a strainer lined with two layers of cheesecloth and let the blueberry juice drip through. Twist the cloth to extract all the juice. There will be approximately 2 cups. Discard the berry pulp. Combine the remaining 2 cups water with the sugar and vanilla bean in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is clear. Wipe the insides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Then boil the syrup, without stirring, until it reaches 260 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Add the blueberry syrup to the sugar syrup and bring the mixture to boil. Boil for 1 minute. Let the syrup cool, add orange juice or lime juice to taste. Yield: 1 quart Nutritional Value Per Serving Calories 168, Fat 0g, Carbohydrates 43g, Protein 0g