Pine Cone Syrup
The weirdest syrup you’ll ever make might also be one of the most delicious. Edible pine cones slowly mingle with sugar to create a rich, dark syrup packed with wild conifer flavor.
Servings: 2 cups
Equipment
- 1 quart jar with lid
Ingredients
- 15-20 green pine cones
- 2-3 cups sugar
Instructions
- Layer pine cones & sugar: Alternate sugar and pine cones in a clean quart jar until packed full, ending with a layer of sugar on the top. Try to fit in as much sugar and pine cones as you can. Give the jar a good shake, then place it somewhere warm, like a sunny windowsill or on top of your refrigerator.
- Infuse: Let the mixture sit for roughly a month. Every few days, give it a little shake and/or turn it upside down for a few minutes to re-distribute the sugar. As the mixture sits, the sugar will combine with the sap and water from the pine cones, turning into a liquid. This creates extra space in your jar. You can keep topping the jar off with more sugar. Not only will this give you more syrup in the end, but it also prevents spoilage by keeping the cones covered.
- Strain: After the maceration period, strain or pluck out the pine cones and discard them.
- Melt: Pour the infused sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan and warm over low heat for a few minutes, just enough to melt the sugar and remove any crystallization. You don't actually need to cook the syrup or reduce it down.Allow to cool to room temperature, then pour into a clean jar and store the syrup in the refrigerator. It will keep for several months.
Notes
Pine cones: How many pine cones do you need? It will depend on the variety you're using and how big they are when you collect them. Gather enough to pack into a quart jar (or whatever batch size you'd like to make).
You can use the cones from any edible conifer tree for this. See blog post above for further information.
Sugar: Use any type of sugar you want! My favorite is a mixture of brown sugar and muscovado.