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Sugar beet syrup

Finely sliced sugar beets are leached in 80–90 °C water for at least 4 hours; the juice is strained and boiled down slowly for 12–14 hours to syrup. From Erken's Stor kokebok (1949), pp. 694 and 697.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1949-utg. s. 697 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

The method is a home way of extracting sugar in the form of syrup, and the author gives her own experience of the yield. The beets could be stored in a cellar through the winter.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Prepare the beets

    Scrub the beets thoroughly clean. Scrape them (while they are new and not dried out) and cut away leaf bases and deep grooves with a sharp knife. Shred 5 kg scraped beets finely, for example in a vegetable mill. Do not mince them in a kitchen grinder or grate them.

  2. 2

    Leach

    Put the beets in a large saucepan of 16–18 litres. Pour on boiling water so it stands well above the pulp. Set on low heat for at least 4 hours. The temperature should be 80–90 °C (195 °F), but it must not boil. Stir now and then with a wooden spoon. Then lift the pulp out of the liquid with a colander or slotted spoon, into a large dish with an upturned plate on the bottom, and set it in a cold place.

  3. 3

    Strain and reduce

    Strain the juice through a flannel bag and back into the rinsed saucepan. Set to reduce on low heat (about 500 watts). It takes 12–14 hours and can stand overnight unattended. In the last half hour a thick greyish scum forms, which is removed just before pouring the syrup into jars. Do not leave the syrup too long once it reaches normal syrup thickness, or it will burn easily. Hot syrup is much thinner than cold, so take a little into a bowl, let it cool and check the consistency.

  4. 4

    Second leaching

    Return the leached pulp to the saucepan for a second leaching and repeat the process. A third leaching is not worthwhile. The first and second extracts can be boiled down together. From 5 kg scraped sugar beets, the first and second leaching together gave 1.3–1.4 kg syrup.

Changes from the original

The process is split over two pages (pp. 694 and 697) and is combined here into one recipe. Measures are converted to modern units, and the cold place is understood as where the beet pulp is set aside while the juice is processed.

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Frequently asked questions

How much syrup does it give?
From 5 kg scraped sugar beets, the first and second leaching together gave 1.3–1.4 kg syrup.
How long should the juice be boiled down?
About 12–14 hours on low heat (about 500 watts).
Can the beets be stored?
Yes, in a cool cellar, with little loss, especially in the first part of autumn.

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