Sunday Recipe: Sparkling Blackberry and Basil Infusion

For anyone that has ever wanted to bottle up summer. 

“You can infuse simple syrup with basil, right?”

These are the kind of questions that cross your mind when you are standing in your mother’s garden looking at two huge pots of fresh basil.

As it turns out, simple syrup was meant to be infused with basil. You end up with a sweet elixir that has a twinge of summer garden. An herbal addition to any drink, dessert or cocktail. It’s also good for a fruit salad dressing, drizzling over vanilla ice cream and bottling up summer in a jar, which is exactly what this Sparkling Blackberry and Basil Infusion is.

Sparkling Blackberry and Basil Infusion

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chilled sparkling water
  • 1/4 cup blackberries, muddled
  • 2 tablespoons basil simple syrup
  • juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a glass (a mason jar is of course preferable) and stir. Serve immediately.

Basil Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup basil leaves

Directions:

Roll basil leaves and then slice into strips.

Warm water and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved.

Pour simple syrup into a glass jar and add in basil leaves.

Let sit for a couple of hours to steep.

Strain out basil leaves and store simple syrup in an airtight container.

Want more food inspiration? Check out the rest of our Sunday Recipe series. 

Anna Brones

Anna Brones is a food + travel writer with a love for coffee and bikes. She is the author of The Culinary Cyclist and Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break. Catch her weekly column, Foodie Underground.