Pumpkin Syrup to Round out the Season

I have finally finished roasting the last of my pumpkins. Luckily, they keep a good long while if kept cool and dry. And I got to the last one before we finally got freezing weather here in lovely central New Jersey.

My favorite type of pumpkin to prep for later jamming and pieing and such are cheese pumpkins. These are delightfully rich with a touch of natural sweetness. They almost smell like cantaloupe when you cut into them. My 4 rather large pumpkins from Giamarese Farm yielded about 40 ounces of roasted mashed pumpkin. That's quite a bit for future use! And it also gave me about 9 cups of sweet, earthy pumpkin juice.

What to do? Time to make some Pumpkin Syrup! It's a slow process - but soooo worth it. As Alton Brown says - Your patience will be rewarded.

First, I took the pumpkin juice and simmered in down a bit to enhance the flavor. I kept it on a very low simmer, so it wouldn't over cook. When it simmered down to about 8 cups, I added 2 sticks of cinnamon, a little ground nutmeg, and some allspice berries and let it continue to gently simmer for about an hour.


I took out the spices, then added 1 cup of chai infused honey, 1 cup of white sugar, 1 cup of turbinado sugar, and one cup of the mashed, roasted pumpkin. This then simmered for about another hour.

The trick to make this smooth is to blend it all together. I took my stick blender and gave it a good whir. I then brought the whole thing up to a boil, stirring frequently. Watch it carefully or it will bubble over. Once it comes to a good boil, turn it off and remove from the heat. Let it cool
completely.

One of the blessings and curses of being an herbal student is that I tend to have bottles and jars a plenty. I put the the syrup in 3 cute little bottles.

I've kept this in my fridge for up to 6 months and it's been fine. It's divine in chai tea, heavenly over waffles, and oh so marvelous over ice cream.

You can always play with this recipe a bit. I've made it before adding some maple syrup or some brown sugar.  For me, an extra dash of cinnamon never hurts either.

This is the perfect way to keep the Season of Everything Pumpkin going, so you'll want to make  sure to have some on hand.