Friday, July 30, 2010

Got Ripe Strawberries? Make Cleo Coyle's Pourable Candy Strawberry Syrup!



And now it’s time to cook up
something more than crime…




Summer is the very best time for fresh produce--and that includes fresh berries. Fresh strawberries in particular are plentiful these days, which means they are also reasonably priced. But the embarrassment of riches in your fridge can turn into flat out embarrassment when you buy too much at one time and the fruit becomes overripe or begins to spoil before you can enjoy it.


“Waste not!” I say. Turn that uber-ripe fruit into a delicious, sweet fruit syrup. Of course, sweet, homemade strawberry syrup is delicious drizzled over ice cream. But it’s also wonderful over pancakes and French toast. You can enjoy it over a slice of pound cake with fresh strawberries or short cakes topped with strawberry slices and whipped cream for a classic strawberry shortcake.

All things considered, this recipe is truly amazing: Two simple ingredients, a few easy steps, and you have liquid strawberry candy. And isn't THIS a much prettier end to spoiling fruit than the trash bin?




Cleo Coyle is the
author of the bestselling
Coffeehouse Mysteries.
To learn more,
click here!

Cleo Coyle's
"Like Liquid Candy"
Strawberry
Syrup








To get this recipe in a free PDF document that you can print, save, or share, CLICK HERE.



Ingredients:
2 pints ripe strawberries
+ 1 cup sugar

Yields:
about
1-1/2 cups syrup


Method:
Step 1 - Prep the strawberries: Hull, wash, and lightly drain the berries but do not dry. Slice the wet berries into a bowl and toss with ½ cup of the sugar. Cover bowl loosely with a paper towel and let stand for 30 minutes to an hour, allowing liquids to accumulate at the bottom of the bowl.




Step 2 - Cook the Strawberries: Pour the entire contents of the bowl (berries and all excess liquid) into a saucepan. Bring mixture to a full boil. Turn heat down a bit and simmer for about eight to ten minutes. You want the fruit to cook down, collapse, soften and give up its liquid.
I wish the Internet had a SMELL THIS hot button option so I could tell you to click here and enjoy! The aroma of the strawberries cooking is intoxicating. And that incredible scent is perfectly captured in the taste of the finished syrup. 


Step 3 - Strain the Strawberries: Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. Pour contents of saucepan into the sieve and catch all the delicious liquid in the bowl. Use the back of a large spoon to press and squeeze the cooked fruit. Come on, tap into your inner serial killer! When you’ve gotten as much liquid as you can out of the fruit, discard the pulpy remains that are left in the sieve.



Step 4 - Heat Once More: Return the gorgeous ruby liquid in the bowl back to the saucepan. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn heat down a bit to simmer and stir for five to ten minutes. You are looking for the sugar to dissolve and the sauce to darken and thicken. Remove from heat and cool. Strain once more if you like.

While still warm, the finished strawberry syrup
should be pourable but thick enough to coat a spoon.



After chilling overnight, the strawberry syrup will thicken even more.
If you prefer a thinner consistency for pouring over pancakes
or ice cream, simply place a portion in a bowl and whisk in a little water
until the syrup is as thin or thick as you want it for your purposes.
(Store your finished syrup in an airtight container in the fridge.)
Serve over ice cream. Or try it over pancakes, pound cake, angel food, or short cakes. Include fresh strawberries and whipped cream and you’ve got a beautiful, colorful summer treat. To store, allow syrup to come to room temperature and place in an airtight container in the refrigerator and...



 



Eat with joy!



~ Cleo Coyle, author of 


To get more of my recipes,
enter to win free coffee, or
learn about my books,
including my bestselling
Haunted Bookshop series,
visit my online coffeehouse:





The Coffeehouse Mysteries are national bestselling
culinary mysteries set in a landmark Greenwich Village 
coffeehouse, and each of the ten titles includes the 
added bonus of recipes. 

 


The Ghost and
Mrs. McClure


Book #1 of 

The Haunted Bookshop
Mysteries
, which Cleo writes
under the name Alice Kimberly
To learn more, click here.

28 comments:

  1. Another yummy recipe. I know what is going on my grocery list for today, fresh strawberries.

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  2. Congratulations to Hippie Mama Kelly who won our blog-a-versary ice cream maker!!!! Thanks to all for making it a special week...year.

    Cleo, this syrup looks fabulous. Over the ice cream, major perfect! YUM. And good luck with your sales of Roast Mortem. I know it's going to be a smash hit. Great title. Terrific character.

    ~Avery

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  4. OK, I'm heading to the farmer's market to get strawberries tomorrow! I keep thinking this syrup would be great combined with some club soda and maybe a squeeze of lime: homemade strawberry soda.

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  5. Oh I made a BIG mistake Logan saw this post he is my middle son and he looked at me and back at the strawberries and I quote, " mama you are going to make this for my pancakes tomorrow right?" Well, how could I say no ha. I think this will be wonderful over home made ice cream too might d that tomorrow as well why not :).

    Forgot to mention ....thank you for the post to the blog you know how much I love Roast Mortem :). I am so excited for you.

    ~Babs~
    The World of Book Reviews

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  6. Congrats to Hippie Mama Kelly on winning the ice cream maker.

    And WOO-HOO Congrats, Cleo, on ROAST MORTEM!! Can't wait to get my hands on a copy! Love your writing style!

    This strawberry recipe is great because we always have extra too-ripe strawberries in the summer. This is a perfect way to use them and minimize waste. Plus, it looks scrumptious.

    Congrats again Cleo! Book releases are so exciting!

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  7. Can't wait to get to Borders for my copy of Roast Mortem!
    My strawberries didn't fare well this summer, but the recipe merits a trip to the Farmers' Market this weekend.
    Congrats on the Book Release! Celebrate!

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  8. I make strawberry pancakes and this syrup looks like the perfect topping. I'll be trying it this weekend. Thanks for the recipe!

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  9. That looks so good. I believe I'm gaining weight just reading this blog. And I second the idea of a "smell this" button! Mmmmmm.

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  10. The strawberry syrup looks so yummy.

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  11. Oh YUM ... That looks delicious! Must try! Thanks for sharing the recipe. :)

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  12. We have a stove! I can cook again. And best wishes on the new book!

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  13. Oh my gosh! I'm so excited to find a new series! I followed Avery Aames' Facebook entry here and now I can't wait to start your series. It looks fantastic!

    The recipe looks great too! It would be interesting to add a small amount of rum to thin it a bit for a new hard sauce recipe for my homemade pound cake. Everyone is probably tired of the same old vanilla flavored hard sauce I've been using. Thanks!!

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  14. Love the series. Of course, I love just about anything coffee. :)

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  15. I love your books and I have Roast Mortem on pre-order for my kindle. This recipe post is kismet for me as today I also came across an amazing recipe for french toast stuffed with mascarpone cheese. I think I will be serving strawberry syrup covered stuffed french toast Sunday morning. Thank You! Mo

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  16. O..M..G! Thank you for this recipe. It looks super and easy. We almost always buy more than we can eat in a reasonable amount of time. When they start to turn south, I freeze them for my smoothies. If I discover some at the back of the fridge, they go in the compost pile and the racoons are happy with the extra fiber.
    I will give this a try and be a hero to the fam.

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  17. Usually strawberries don't have a chance to get too ripe at my house. My son and I tend to fight over who gets the strawberries. This recipe looks wonderful. I'll have to give it a try.

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  18. I can't wait to try it. Pour some over a piece of cake with some ice cream and a good cup of coffee. What a finish!
    Ann

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  19. Can't wait to try this! Yummmmm

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  20. I can smell this strawberry syrup cooking already!

    Four more days... this has been one long wait!

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  21. LOL, Babs! Cleo's photos look too good to pass up! Yum!

    ~ Krista

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  22. Thanks so much for this, Cleo! We're strawberry nuts at our house, so this is perfect for us.

    I've got Aug. 3 on my calendar as my day to head to the store for my own copy of Roast Mortem! Can't wait!

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  23. Congrats to Mason for winning the Latte Cup in my random drawing. And thank you to EVERYONE for leaving such enthusiastic comments.

    A few individual replies...

    @Janel - great minds think alike! This syrup does make a fantastic cold drink. My husband and I mix it with club soda and ice. Amazing flavor. Next time, we'll try your idea and add a squeeze of lime, too.

    @Babs - thanks for the nice words about the photos. Your son sounds adorable. I hope he enjoys the recipe.

    @CTTiger - TY for the good thoughts about Roast Mortem's releasing. I hope you enjoy Clare Cosi's latest case. (It's a *hot* one. :)

    @Trollbaby - I love your idea to use rum for thinning. Amaretto would be a fantastic addition, too. I agree it would make a delicious hard sauce for pound cake.

    @Diana - appreciate your love of coffee -- and the kind words about my series.

    @MO - Cheers to you for your support. Hope you like my latest and I love your idea for drizzling this syrup over marscarpone cheese stuffed french toast. Sounds like bliss in every bite.

    @VickieB - LOL! We've all been there -- or at least I have. (Mystery food in the back of the fridge: Okay, what WAS that?) Our freezer is pretty small and almost always packed so it's not always easy to do the freezing thing, which is why the syrup works well for us. Hope those cute racoons can find other snacks and this recipe will make you a local hero.

    @Laineshots - Sweet. TY for your enthusiasm on the countdown.

    @Avery, Julie, Krista, Elizabeth, Wendy -- TY to my fellow mystery writing cooks for dropping in!

    Cheers!

    Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  24. Wow! I need to go and get some more strawberries so I can make this! The kids will be on this one big time!
    Congrats on the new book!

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