Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Tasty Desert Time


So, I decided I wanted something kind of sweet.  I had an abundance of sugar, and some ice cream in the fridge, but I had no flavor.  I was out of flour, so baking was out of the question.  All I had was a big pomegranate.  The solution formed in my mind: Pomegranate Syrup.

 First I put on a movie and started peeling the pomegranate and depositing the seeds in a bowl.  By the time the movie was over, I was almost done.  You want to end up with maybe 2 cups of seeds from a good sized pomegranate.

Now I covered the seeds in 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and let them macerate for about half an hour, as shown in the picture.

Take two cups of water and throw them into a sauce pan on medium heat.  Let the water heat up, then throw in the pomegranate seeds and another cup of sugar.  Stir thoroughly and reduce to medium-low heat.  Let it go at a low simmer for about an hour, until the flesh of the seeds is soft.  Take the mixture and pour it into a blender.  Blend until you have an even color, maybe 1 minute on a medium setting.

Take your blended concoction and strain it back into the pot on the same heat setting.  The blender should have effectively stripped the flesh from the hard seeds and incorporated the flesh into the syrup.  You should get a bunch of seed debris in the strainer.

Leave the pot on the heat at a low simmer for another half hour and then remove and chill in the fridge for two hours to allow to thicken.  Remember to stir frequently when on the heat.  If you let this burn in your pot, you'll have to spend an hour cleaning it out, and the smell of burned sugar will linger for a few weeks.  Believe me, I know from experience.

And voila, you should have some tasty, sweet pomegranate syrup to pour on your vanilla ice cream.

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