Strawberry pop! - EXPERIMENTAL

[paulca]

Never done this before.  Scaned a few recipes, watched a few YT videos, got the gist, decided to give it a go.

I don't do recipes.  I tend to reference them on occasion, but I try instead to understand what is occuring and how to tell the outcome, adjusting ingredients on the fly to achieve it.  With that said... my recipe for strawberry syrup....

I managed to slice out 410g of strawberry into the pan.  So I added imaginatively 410g of white sugar and 410g of water.

I raised it very slowly towards the boil and simmered it on the lowest burner.

The idea is for the strawberries to turn white when almost all the "goodness" has been dilluted into the sryup and only really pulp remains.

Next.  I am cooling the mixture down to below "ouch" temperature before pouring it into a new pan lined with a fine mesh bag (I don't have a strainer).  I understand it is important NOT to "mash" the pulp.  Barely squeeze, preferrably allow to drip over a protracted period.

In theory I should be able to transfer that to a bottle.  I am hoping to use a 500ml bottle so I may need to reduce it more to fit.....  not thought this far ahead.

[paulca]

Additions under consideration.  Lore be told the PH of the result should be about 3.6 and if you want a "bright tart" to the syrup adding citric acid to lower it toward 3.0PH might require a few dozen grams of citric acid.  I will see how the syrup tastes before adding.

(bare in mind this is a syrup and will be dilluted into soda water at ... about 10:1 I assume).

As it is fruit and possibly not concentrated enough to fend off wild yeast, if you want to keep it in the fridge longer than a few weeks you need to add preservatives like postasium sorbate or sulphate.

[paulca]

So, thankfully unlike beer, you don't have to wait around to try out your concoction.

I strained the pulp gently through a mesh bag.  (My beer mash bag!)

I let it cool to 55C and tasted it.  WOW!  But, I added a tablespoon of citric acid.  Put it in the fridge for half an hour.  Got bored, decided to bottle it and taste it.

I ended up with 600ml of syrup.  So I poured about 30ml into a 300ml glass of soda and tasted it.  I was entirely expecting a watered down barely a hint, but was greated by a great big whack of strawberry, pure sweeter than sweet with a nice little kick of sour from the citric.

It's not only drinkable... I am cancelling my monthly order of strawberry soda sryup!  It's gorgeous!

[T3sl4co1l]

Nice.

Last time I did something like this, I had collected some clusters of elderberries from the nearby forest area.  Doesn't cook down to a lot, I had bagged like five clusters, and after rinsing, picking, boiling and macerating, it strained down to a couple ounces of syrup. Was quite tasty with a bit of whisky though.

Tim