It’s the end of my 3rd batch of preserves in two nights. 3 liters of strawberry jam, 4 jars of preserved strawberries in syrup and 3 jars of stewed rhubarb. It’s going to be a good winter.
This post may not be very exciting to those of you who do not make preserves – I am hoping that this connects with at least one person that does (or will try) because I am BOUNCING with excitement.
When making jam/ preserved fruit, you are often left with a small amount of juice that you simply can’t pack into a jar. It’s often a tablespoon or two. Typical approach is to put it in the fridge and find a use – pancakes, flavour a cocktail or add to a can that you open in the first week.
The problem with the syrup alone is that it is not all sweet – there is an undertone of lemon juice (used in the preserving process). The lemon is almost impossible to detect in the jam/ preserve because the sweet fruit brings the whole deal into context. I pack all the berries I can in my jar so my leftover is typically just this juice. I love it on pancakes but was sure there must be another use.
As I was cleaning the kitchen from the evenings toll, I made a pot of tea. I’ve been rather excited about “real” iced tea lately so I began the process with some of my leftover boiled water that wasn’t used in the rhubarb process. I’m sure you know where this is going now – I was still clueless as I steeped the tea on the counter and sweetened it slightly. I didn’t even clue in as I added a touch of lemon juice into the tea.
As I put the tin of loose-leaf tea back in the counter I laughed at the irony that I had chosen tea made with wild strawberry leaves as it’s base. I’ve just processed 25 pounds of strawberries in the last 24 hours. It hit me that I had strawberries, sugar and lemon in the tea and only then did I notice the glass on the counter with my leftovers from preserving – strawberry juice matched with sugar and lemon.
This lemon-berry mix is so ideal for tea that I now also have another use for the leftover syrup from the preserved whole berries that we’ll eat in the winter (contrary to popular belief, I really do have a limit to how much ice cream I can eat). I’m actually thinking that the berries might occasionally play second-fiddle to their divine juice!
For those of you who make preserves and the like (or those who know people who do) – what do you do with the bits that just don’t fit in the jar?
We usually just keep the leftover bits and use them first. But, adding to your tea idea: I just tried cooking strawberries and rhubarb (about equal amounts, mashing the strawberries to provide enough liquid) with a bit of lemon juice, then sweeten to taste with honey or sugar, and combine with cooled rooibos tea, and you have an excellend rooibos/strawberry/rhubarb iced tea!
awesome stuff Julie, that sounds awesome – we’ve got some cherry liquid that might just be our test
[...] Leftover strawberry syrup innovation Oh. My. Good. This was the best idea with something I may have foolishly thrown away previously. If you are preserving fruit, in simple syrup (sugar-water) you simply must consider this. [...]
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