Homemade Syrup

I thought I'd share the homemade syrup recipe I found on the Hillbilly Housewife site.

We were spending tons of money on real maple syrup.  It was wonderful, but the price just kept going up and up, and finally we just had enough.  I started looking around and found this recipe.  The first couple of times I did it exactly as stated, but I found the syrup would crystalize after a few weeks.  Not damning, but I knew that some light corn syrup would solve that issue.

Here's the recipe:

• Water - 2 cups
• Sugar - 4 cups
• Molasses - 2 tablespoons
• Light Corn Syrup - 2 to 4 tablespoons
• Maple Flavouring - 1 1/2 teaspoons

In a mid-size saucepan combine the water, sugar and molasses (I use blackstrap which some might think is a little too strong).  Heat the contents over a medium stove setting, stirring occasionally until the syrup comes to a delicate bubbling boil.  Once the syrup begins to boil, turn the stove temperature to simmer and cover the pan.  Let it simmer for 10 minutes - don't peak, don't stir.  After 10 minutes remove the pan from the stove.  Take off the lid, stir in the light corn syrup, and let it cool for 15 minutes.  Lastly, stir in the maple flavouring.

I let it cool to room temperature before storing in canning jars or used glass syrup bottles, and keep it stored in the fridge.

This syrup is a fraction of the cost of real maple syrup.  It might not be as wonderful as the real thing, but it's still quite yummy and everybody seems to really like it, coming back for more every time.  In fact, Walter would prefer to drink it straight up ;)