Chokeberry (Aronia) Syrup for Winter

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make syrup for winter? Gather all the ingredients. You can use fresh or frozen chokeberries (aronia). Rinse the cherry leaves under running water ahead of time — they give the syrup its distinctive taste and aroma.

2. Step 2:

   

   Put the cherry leaves in a pot and pour in the water. Set the pot over medium heat and bring it to a boil.

3. Step 3:

   

   Add the citric acid and stir. You can substitute a teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice for the citric acid.

4. Step 4:

   

   Now add the aronia berries and stir. Keep the heat medium. Be careful with aronia juice — its blue-violet pigment stains stubbornly. If any gets on your countertop, wipe it up right away with a damp cloth.

5. Step 5:

   

   Once it boils, simmer the syrup for another 5 minutes. After that, you no longer need the leaves and berries — they've given the syrup everything it needs. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon. You can save the berries to make jam later, for instance.

6. Step 6:

   

   Add the sugar to the strained syrup and stir. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves — it took me 10 minutes.

7. Step 7:

   

   Meanwhile, wash and sterilize the bottles (or jars) however you like. Here's my method: pour about half an inch of plain tap water into each one and microwave for 3 minutes at 800 watts; the water should come to a boil. I planned on two bottles, but the syrup only filled one. Just pour boiling water over the cap.

8. Step 8:

   

   Ladle the hot syrup into the bottle — a funnel makes this easy.

9. Step 9:

   

   Wrap the bottle in a thick blanket and leave it to cool at room temperature. The syrup keeps all winter at room temperature.

10. Step 10:

    

    I use this syrup to make fruit drink: 1 tablespoon of syrup per standard glass of water. It tastes wonderfully autumnal!