Prickly Pear Juice and Syrup
Delicious Prickly Pear Juice and Syrup for serving over ice cream, in margaritas, and more!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 70kcal
Equipment
- Immersion Blender
Ingredients
- 1½ cups chopped prickly pear flesh (approximately 8 ounces)
- 1½ cups water
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar (approximate)
- ¼ tsp. citric acid
Instructions
- Slice or chop the prickly pears into sections and add to a medium-sized pot.
- Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer, over medium heat, for 20 minutes.
- Mash the prickly pears to release their juice.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium-sized bowl.
- Stir citric acid into the strained juice.
- Mix with your favorite sweetener, and serve over ice. You can dilute the juice with water, Lacroix, alcohol, or clear soda.
Continue to Make Prickly Pear Syrup
- Rinse the pot you used to simmer the prickly pears in.
- Measure the strained juice before adding back to the pot. It should be approximately 1⅓ cups.
- Measure the same amount of sugar and pour into the pot with the juice.
- Stir, over medium heat, until it begins to boil. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
- Pour into sterilized jars and process in hot water for 10 minutes, if storing for any length of time.
- Otherwise, store in a refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Notes
Although I don’t use them, I do recommend wearing thick gardening gloves to avoid the tiny needles.
If using harvested prickly pears, instead of store-bought, hold prickly pears with tongs and quickly rotate them over an open flame to burn off the almost invisible needles.
- Slice off both ends of the prickly pear and carve out the “crown” which is loaded with needles.
- Next, make a vertical slit through the skin.
- Carefully remove the skin from the prickly pear.
- You can either peel it off in one section or make several cuts and peel the skin down, as pictured.
- Continue with the recipe instructions.
Nutrition
Serving: 2T. | Calories: 70kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 2mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g