Kitchen Notes: Canning Unsweetened Fruit Juice

I thought about making a mixed berry jam using the berries that have been in the freezer; but my pantry currently suffers from a glut of uneaten jams. To convert this into the base of a drink spritzer, take an equal amount of a basic sugar syrup (1:1 ratio of sugar to water, boiled together and volume reduced by half) and add it to the juice. Then add up to a 1/4 c of the juice mixture to a glass with ice and sparkling water (or sparkling wine).

TheFoodening Blog - Unsweetened Mixed Berry Juice

I just needed to free up some freezer space for my dumplings. Anyhow. Onto the process.

This batch had a lot of seeds! OMG. So many tiny seeds to filter out. I batch strained the solids 2-3 times (the -3rd time was the thick goo leftover in the strainer and I let it drip out overnight in the fridge in a bowl).

1/2 lb boysenberries, from the farmers market - big, ripe and not really sweet
1 lb strawberries - uhh, I froze them whole so the stems were still there
1 qt blueberries - these have been in the freezer for a while, a couple years; picked at Majestic Farm Blueberries a few miles away

I am not sure why I tossed in the remainder of an opened jar of Fonseco port, but a bit more than a cup of port is also in this "juice".

Crock it all together in a slow cooker for a few hours on LOW.

Made: 5 half pints

Blueberry Sauce

I made this to pair with the panna cotta and I must say that it came out really well. It's very tasty and not too sweet. There is just enough sweetness to bring back the full flavor of the summer picked blueberries.

This is not the right way to make a simple sugar syrup, but doing so balances out the sweetness pretty nicely. Real simple syrups are normally equal parts water and sugar.

Ingredients

1/2 c. water
1/4 c. unbleached granulated sugar
1 tbsp raw honey
2 1/2 c. blueberries, thawed and drained

Directions

1. In a food prep, coarsely chop the 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan, combine water, sugar, and honey and boil until the water has been reduced by  half. Add the chopped and whole blueberries.

3. Blueberries are mostly water, so expect there to be a lot more liquid in the saucepan when the berries cook down. Let this cook over medium-low heat for about 20-30 minutes or until it has an almost jam consistency...which is saucy, but not watery.

4. Pour into a glass bowl, cover, and let it cool until ready to use.