Fruit Syrups for Drinks, Pancakes, and More
Cooking up your own fruit syrups makes the kitchen smell soooo good!
You can use them as concentrates for fruit drinks, on top of vanilla ice cream, or on your pancakes. They last up to a couple of weeks in the refrigerator and about 3 to 4 months in the freezer.
To use these syrups for making drinks, mix about 1/4 cup of the syrup with cold water to make a full glass. With ice it's delicious! All three flavors!
And if you're using yummy fruit, don't throw it away after you have cooked it down in the syrup. It makes a great topping for ice cream, and you can also use it as a filling between cake layers.
The swing-top bail bottles I like to use can be bought online or at dollar stores, and they are perfect. I love them!
For the cute labels, there are free printables on Pinterest®. I just use regular printer paper to print them out, and then I glue them on the bottles with a glue stick. It works great, because when you go to wash the bottle it comes right off after running it under hot water. Then you will have a perfectly clean bottle to use for whatever is next. If you print on sticky-backed paper, a lot of times you'll have to deal with trying to get that sticky residue off the bottle.
Here's how to make my three favorite flavors of fruit syrup.
Strawberry-Top Syrup
Ingredients
strawberry tops left over from fresh strawberries
sugar
water
Instructions
I save the tops of strawberries all summer long. Each time I use fresh strawberries, I put the tops in a zip-top bag that I keep in the freezer until I have enough to make syrup. By making syrup with the tops, you will eventually use up the whole berry. No waste.
1. Put as many strawberry tops as you have in a large stock pot and cover them with water just to the top of the strawberries. Simmer for 15 minutes, remove from heat and let cool.
2. Place some cheesecloth over a large bowl and pour the liquid over the top of the cheesecloth, draining the juice into the bowl. Dump the berry tops into the cheesecloth and squeeze out any remaining juice. Throw away the squeezed tops.
3. Using a measuring cup, transfer the juice back into the stock pot. Count how many cups of juice you put back in the pot. That is how many cups of sugar you will add to the strawberry juice. After adding the sugar, simmer for 1 hour.
4. Take the stock pot off of the heat and let cool about 30 minutes. Then pour the syrup into bottles or jars.
5. To make a refreshing drink, put 1/4 cup syrup into a drinking glass and add cold water and ice. Delicious!
This syrup will keep up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. You may also can it in jars using the water bath method for 10 minutes if you would like to store it for a longer period of time.
Lemonade Concentrate
1-1/3 cups fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
1-1/3 cups sugar
1-1/3 cups filtered water
Instructions
1. Place sugar and water into a saucepan and simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved. You should have clear liquid. Once that is accomplished add in the lemon juice and zest. Continue to simmer approximately 10 more minutes.
2. Remove from heat and let the concentrate cool. Pour through a strainer into bottles or jars.
3. To make a refreshing drink, put 1/4 cup syrup into a drinking glass and add cold water and ice.
It will last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. You can use the water bath method for 10 minutes to can the syrup in jars if you want to store it longer.
Double or triple the recipe as desired.
Note -
To make strawberry lemonade, use 1 cup of lemon juice and add 1/3 cup of strawberry syrup (see the recipe above). It turns out delicious!
Ingredients
1 cup fresh blueberries, washed
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice (optional)
Instructions
1. In a saucepan dissolve the sugar and water. Simmer until the liquid has become clear. Add in the blueberries. Continue to simmer for approximately 20 minutes if you would like simple syrup for adding to drinks or using on cakes, etc. If you want a thicker syrup for pancakes, ice cream, etc, simmer for approximately an hour.
2. Take the saucepan off of the heat and let cool. Pour through a strainer into bottles or jars.
3. To make a refreshing drink, put 1/4 cup simple syrup into a drinking glass and add cold water and ice.
This syrup will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer. You may can it in jars in a water bath for 10 minutes if you want to store it longer.
Double or triple the recipe as desired.
Blueberry Topping
Don't throw those blueberries away after you finish your syrup. Save them to use as topping on vanilla ice cream or as a filling between cake layers. Yum!
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| Blueberries in the pot |
Enjoy!
~Dana
Printable Recipe Pages
copyright 2025, Dana Meier, My Olde Country Home
My Olde Country Home cookbook series:
Vol. 1 - Olde Fashioned Christmas Desserts
Vol. 2 - Vintage Cookie Recipes
available on Amazon®
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