Smoky & Sweet Shagbark Syrup
Looking for a fun, easy and delicious project to do with your kids this weekend? Why not make syrup! Shagbark hickory trees grow abundantly here in New England. They are one of the easiest trees to identify, as their bark hangs loosely around the trunk. You can find them lining old fields, around streams and rivers and potentially right in your own yard.
But did you know that their funky shaped bark has also been used for hundreds of years as a syrup ingredient? Unlike their maple, sycamore, and birch neighbors, shagbarks aren’t tapped. You can think of them as more of the ‘lazy-man’s syrup’ option. It’s way less work – tapping requires a high number of trees, gallons of collection and long hours in the kitchen, boiling it all down to make a fairly small amount of sticky sweet deliciousness. Weather is also a factor in traditional syrup collection, as low night temperatures followed by warmer days promote syrup flow.
Shagbark hickory syrup laughs in the face of these other tree syrups. It is not beholden to tapping or temperature, you can harvest the bark and make syrup any time of year! Personally, I like to do it in the winter, when foraging has slowed. It also makes the cleaning of the bark quicker, as you are less likely to find little bugs or spiders in the crevasses. All you need are a few stripes of bark, ‘peeled’ off the tree trunk. Choose a few that are already shaggy and simply break them, being sure not to take too many pieces from the same tree. For the recipe below, I used less than half a pound and was able to make 3 cups of syrup. From forage to plate, it only took me about an hour and a half.
Ingredients
- Half a pound of shagbark hickory bark
- 4 cups of sugar
- 6 cups of filtered water
Instructions
Using a potato scrubber or mushroom brush, clean each piece of bark thoroughly. Soak the bark in warm water for 20 minutes. Remove the bark from the water bath, then scrub again. Let the bark dry for about 15 minutes. Place the bark on a roasting pan and set the oven to 400 degrees. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Boil 6 cups of water in a large pot, then place the roasted bark in the pot and simmer for 30 minutes. This creates a bark tea. While it is still warm, remove the bark pieces and strain the tea through a cheese cloth. Measure the amount of liquid – I had just over 4 cups. Place the liquid back in the pot, then add equal parts sugar (I added in just over 4 cups). Bring the mixture back to a rolling boil and cook for another 25 – 30 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by half.
Remove from heat and pour syrup into jars. Enjoy just as you would regular syrup, or get creative! The smoky, sweet flavor is perfect paired with whiskey and scotch. I’m keen on adding it to a classic Paper Airplane cocktail. Or, use it for baking!
Share your thoughts on the recipe in the comments below!
