Got Overripe Strawberries? Waste not! Here's a Beautiful Use for Them from Cleo Coyle

Summer is the very best time for fresh produce and that includes fresh berries, which can often be bought in a very ripe state at bargain prices. Or maybe you bought perfectly ripe berries, but some of the fruit became overripe in your fridge. 

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“Waste not!” I say. Turn that uber-ripe fruit into a delicious fruit syrup. Homemade strawberry syrup is delicious drizzled over ice cream. Or how about spooning it over a slice of pound cake or angel food piled with fresh strawberries and whipped cream? 

This syrup would make a pretty addition to a brunch table, too, drizzled over pancakes, waffles, crepes, or French toast. Or try stirring into yogurt with fresh fruit and nuts...

All things considered, this recipe is a kind of
foodie alchemy: Two simple ingredients,
a few easy steps, and you have red gold
in the form of liquid strawberry joy. 

And isn't this a much prettier end
to spoiling fruit than the trash bin?

👇

To download this recipe in a 

free PDF that you can print,
save, or share, CLICK HERE.

Free Recipe PDF

Homemade Strawberry Syrup 

by Cleo Coyle

Ingredients:

2 pints ripe strawberries 

+ 1 cup sugar

Yields:

about 1-1/2 cups syrup

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 1/2 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,
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, or (waste not!) use them in a smoothie.

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 (see photo below). 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 as thick as you want it for your purposes. Store your finished syrup in an airtight container in the fridge.

Serve over ice cream. Or drizzle it over slices of pound cake or angel food with fresh strawberries and whipped cream piled high. This syrup would make a pretty addition to a brunch table, too, poured over pancakes, waffles, French toast or crepes, or stirred into yogurt with fresh fruit and nuts.

To store, allow syrup to come to room temperature and place in an airtight container in the refrigerator and, by all means...eat with joy!

🍓

Free Recipe PDF

☕

Eat (and read) with joy! 

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author
of The Coffeehouse Mysteries &
Haunted Bookshop Mysteries

Alice and Marc in Central Park. 

Together we write as Cleo Coyle. 

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