I admit that I bought this Apple & Pomegranate Syrup partly because I love the shape of the bottle.  I have a ‘thing’ for interesting and unusual glass bottles – they make lovely vases and are very good a cluttering up my limited cupboard space.  I won’t go into detail about the four or five large boxes of antique bottles that my Uncle saved from my grandparents place – they have been safely wrapped in newspaper for about ten years – awaiting a lovely display unit in the living room.  As the Anster doesn’t share my passion for glass, the display unit is nearer the bottom of the ‘want’ list.  And I suppose I do agree that a proper laundry would be more useful that a display shelf for obscure bottles.  More useful but less exciting.

Another ‘thing’ I have is drinking hot drinks.  I don’t particularly like tea – it smells so inviting but tastes dusty and ordinary.  But I have developed a strong attachment to coffee.  When I have had my daily quota of coffee (the quota has developed from the idea that too much coffee isn’t good for me and I agree that moderation is the key to a good diet), fruit syrups fill the gap.  They are syrup so they do contain sugar, and once again, moderation is the key. A hot apple & pomegranate juice is delicious.

Syrups are not just useful as cordials –

Ice Cream/Pancake Topping:

Make some delicious caramelised apples, serve with vanilla ice cream or fluffy pancakes and drizzle with apple & pomegranate syrup.

Icing flavouring:

Try Annabel Langbein’s delicious One-Pot Chocolate & Raspberry Cupcakes.  Very good and easy to make and, did I say, very good?.  Try an Apple & Pomegranate variation by substituting the raspberries with diced fresh apple or pomegranate seeds.

Marshmallow flavouring:

I made a variation on these Retro Marshmallows – stay tuned as my recipe needs a little bit more work before I am comfortable sharing it.  I did take a photo though, tried to be all arty with the shadows.

Meringues:

I made Apple Syrup Meringues this morning.  Unfortunately we had a power cut while I was whisking in the sugar.  The meringues are crazy cracked and a little, well more than a little, bit of a failure.  I’d like to blame the power outage entirely, but I feel my recipe needs some attention.

Home made Apple & Pomegranate Syrup:

I have apples on the tree and pomegranates on the bush, so I thought I’d have a crack at making my own syrup.  A lot of recipes & methods I researched began with juice whereas I wanted to start with the whole fruit.  So I decided just to chuck some apples & pomegranates in a pot with a little bit of water and see how it turned out. 8 cups of apples and 2 cups of pomegranate seeds yielded 200ml of juice, and a large bowl of lovely pulp.  Well, it is lovely pulp after I spent a good hour or two passing it through a sieve to get rid of those pesky pomegranate nibby things.  Processing the juice into syrup, I ended up with some lovely rose-pink jelly as I boiled it a little too long.  Oops.  Will have to try that one again.

Speaking of Pomegranates – they grow well here in Gisborne.  We have the hot summers required for good successful fruiting.  Pomegranates are an autumn fruit – ready in March & April.  The taste bud jury in my mouth is undecided about Pomegranates – the sweet sharp flavour is appreciated but my teeth don’t appreciate the nubbly little pits.