Fresh Berries in Syrup

All those beautiful, white blossoms from May have turned into scads of boysenberries.  I boiled a handful down into a quick jam, made a patty-pan pie with the last of some pie crust, and still had nearly a quart left over, with more on the verge of ripening.

Yes, I could have made boysenberry jam, but the point of the bush is to have the berries in a fashion that you can't buy in the store.

The Ball Book of Home Preserving has a generic recipe for berries in syrup.  Compound berries use the raw-pack method, while firm berries can use the hot pack.  We're going to focus in this post on the first version.  What you get is similar to canned fruit like Dole or Del Monte, only berries.  These berries can be used whenever you want a slightly sweeter piece of fruit, like in a drink, on cottage cheese, or in yogurt.  They can be put on a salad, served with meat, or dropped into oatmeal.  The leftover syrup is now flavored; you can use it to sweeten iced tea for a berry enhancement, mix with soda water for punch, or drizzle it onto a cake layer.

And this is also the easiest processed canning thing I've done, even easier than pickles.  You boil the syrup, raw pack the washed berries, and process.  The most time-consuming part is waiting for the water to boil.

1 dry quart compound berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc)
3/4 C sugar
1-1/4 C water

1.  Boil a large pot of water.  Wash canning jars for a 1 quart yield.  (I used wide-mouth half-pint jars.)  Sterilize jars and rims in boiling water and place lids in simmering water to soften.

2.  Wash berries well.  Remove any stems or caps.  Discard any mushy or spoiled berries.

3.  In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil.  Keep at a low boil for about 5 minutes, to make sure the sugar is fully dissolved.  Don't boil so hard that it reduces.

4.  Fill each jar with berries to 1/2" of rim.  Funnel in syrup to the same level.  Poke with a clean chopstick or skewer to remove air bubbles, then add more syrup if needed.  All of the berries will not be submerged; they float, and will cook down a bit in the canner anyway.

5.  Wipe rims clean.  Center warm lids, secure rims finger-tight, and place in boiling water bath.  Process for 15 minutes.  Remove from canner and allow to cool to room temperature.  Any jars that do not seal should be refrigerated promptly and used within a couple of weeks.  Once the jars have cooled, remove rims and wipe the jars clean.  Store in a cool place, away from sunlight, for up to 1 year.

Makes 1 quart

Difficulty rating  :)