Chokecherry Syrup
Recipe by Nicole Thom-Arens
Makes approximately 7 cups
Some of my fondest childhood memories involve picking chokecherries and enjoying the sweet syrup over pancakes and sopping it up with toast on Sunday mornings. As an adult, I’ve learned how delicious it is drizzled over vanilla ice cream. Chokecherries have a round inedible seed in the center, so the cooked berries must be pressed through a strainer or food mill to extract the juice. Transforming these tart berries that can leave your mouth feeling dry into a sweet syrup is a process, but the time, I learned is well spent for the reward.
Ingredients:12 cups fresh chokecherries2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, adjust according to the amount of juice extracted (I ended up with 6 cups of juice from the berries. This recipe used about a 40% sugar to juice ratio.)
Instructions:1. Rinse and clean the berries, removing any stems and leaves.2. Add the berries to a large stockpot. Add enough water to just cover the berries.3. Heat on high on the stovetop until the berries boil—watch them closely so they don’t boil over—and reduce to a simmer.4. Simmer the berries for 30 minutes. Skim the foam from the top of the berries as it needed. 5. After 30 minutes, remove the berries from the heat. Press the berries through a fine strainer or food mill. Clean the food mill or strainer often to keep the juice flowing.6. Once you’ve extracted all of the juice, pass it through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth. Add the strained juice to a clean stockpot. 7. Add 2 1/2 cups of granulated sugar to the juice. Bring to a boil—watch it closely to avoid overflow—and simmer for 10 minutes until the syrup is thick. 8. To taste for sweetness, add a small spoonful of the syrup to a small plate and chill in the fridge for a few minutes. Add a 1/2 cup sugar at a time to reach your desired sweetness being sure to simmer the syrup long enough to dissolve the additional sugar. (Some recipes call for equal parts juice to sugar. I prefer to reduce the sugar to preserve the tart, dryness of the juice.)9. Transfer the cooked syrup to heat-safe glass jars. Store in the fridge for three weeks. Freeze for longer storage.