Blueberry Syrup

I was making The Wife blueberry pancakes this morning before church and wouldn't you know it, out of syrup.

This shouldn't be be too difficult, I thought to myself - how hard can syrup be to make? With help from Google, I discovered that with a little sugar, brown sugar and water or corn syrup I'd be on my way.

Road block number two. No brown Sugar.

No problem, brown sugar is easy enough, white sugar and molasses.

Road block number three. No molasses.

While staring into my pantry hoping molasses would magically appear behind the cornstarch, it hit me. Blueberry Syrup - how hard could that be? We have a bag of the Boreal blueberries from Trader Joe's in the freezer. So Blueberry pancakes became pancakes with blueberry syrup - and what a great change.

With the help of my trusty search engine I came across this recipe and with a couple of minor tweaks it was outstanding. I even canned the rest and plan on making a larger batch to give out over the holidays.

I was nervous about the balsamic, but if you didn't know it was in there, you'd think it was just a slight tartness from the blueberries, there's no hint of vinegar.

This couldn't have been easier, and I don't know how it could have been better. It was flavorful and not sugary sweet. I also think this would phenomenal as a glaze over a pork loin.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup blueberries (I used Boreals, they're smaller, about the size of a pea)

1/4 cup of water

4 heaping tablespoons of sugar

1-2 tablespoons of honey

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 pinch of salt

1/8 teaspoon lemon extract

Directions:

In a pot over medium low heat, add the blueberries (I added them frozen), water and sugar. Let this warm until blueberries soften and steam starts to rise - about 5-10 minutes.

Break the blueberries with a wooden spoon or whisk to release their flavor, then add the honey, balsamic, salt and lemon extract (I added this at the last minute to give it a "brightness" but don't worry if you don't have any, any citrus will work or omit this part) and bring mixture just to a soft boil then reduce heat to low and let the syrup "steep" for another five minutes or so for the flavors to come together.

Next, using an immersion blender, food processor, blender or whatever you have puree the syrup and return the the pan.

Keep warm until ready to serve.

Enjoy!