Harold's Berry Basil Syrup (BONUS infused alcohol!)

Today we picked a bunch of blackberries off the bushes out back!

Dad showed me how to make his blackberry basil syrup!

Add it to smoothies or yogurt, drizzle it on vanilla icecream, stir it
into some coconut milk, or make a soda by mixing it with
sparkling water! Also great on pancakes or oatmeal!

1) Of course, first things first we picked the berries and basil and soaked them in water.

We ended up filling two large serving bowls

2) Then we put all the berries in a sauce pan, with the juice from 3 small limes. Let them simmer, and they'll start to get juicy:

A

C

B

3) after they look like picture C, you can add sugar to taste- dad like's it a little on the sour side, you'll probably want to add more. Don't add too much at once though, you'll still have time to add more if its not sweet enough.

4) Now bring the heat up to a low boil, and let it stew for a while. We used this time to chop up the basil:

FRESH BASIL!

Nothing smells better!!

5) You've got time to eat dinner, or do some work in the garden, or just relax- just stir periodically. DON'T ADD THE BASIL YET! 

6) After about an hour, we brought the whole mix up to a rolling boil for around 10 minutes: Keep stirring!

7) Then we cut the heat down to the lowest setting and added the basil. The basil smelled so good! I couldn't stop sniffing the empty bowl. 

heat ruins the 

flavor of basil, that's why we waited 

to add it (Make sure heat is low!)

8) Strain out the seeds, let the syrup drip into a pan on low heat. Push as much of the goods stuff through the strainer as you can. We found a lot of the thicker syrupy stuff clung to the underside of the strainer, so we used a rubber spatula to scrape it off and stir it in.

Stir the whole time! This is also your last chance to add more sugar.

9) While you are stirring the syrup, you should be able to "cut" a path in the liquid before it comes back together. That means its thick enough to be syrup (but not jelly) once it cools. See video:

10) Jar it! I asked dad why we didn't bottle it, he said he's never had it happen but he supposes its possible it could set into jelly, and then be stuck in the bottle. 

YUM!

You wouldn't expect it but blackberry and basil go super well together, but they taste so right once you give it a try!

BONUS:

Dad uses the leftover pulp to make blackberry basil vodka. 

Just scoop the mash into a very large mason jar, and fill with vodka. Let it sit for a couple weeks, (he says the longer the better), then you strain out the seeds and pulp, and are left with a purple vodka which dad says tastes great. 

Give it a shake every so often, and keep it 

refrigerated if you've got more fruit in there than alcohol. 

Check out my Dad's other garden recipes!