Blueberry-POM Syrup

This was originally a recipe i found for blueberry sauce. When I made it the first time though, I was surprised with how sweet it was. Too sweet in my mind, luckily I'd been on a POM kick so i just added 1/2 a container from my POM source to the mix. Which cut down the sweetness and gave it this sweet-sour mix that i love. It was a big hit over cheesecake. And it goes just as well over pancakes, french toast, shortcake, really...anything that you want a sweet sauce for.

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup water
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup POM
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup of water, orange juice, and sugar. Bring to a Boil

2. In a cup or bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cold water with the corn starch and stir til it's well blended. Because no one likes clumps in their sauce. At least, not corn starch clumps. Blech! Pour this into the saucepan, the original recipe said not to mash the blueberries...but i find that to be half the fun. So mash away if you want to. Simmer gently for 3-5 minutes

3. When it starts thickeining up and is about the consistency you want remove from heat and add the almond extract and cinnamon. Give it a taste test, if it's too sweet add more POM. (I usually add more at this point...never had an issue with it being not sweet enough).

If it's too thick, you can also add water.

You can serve this immediately or you can set it aside and refrigerate. You'll find the cinnamon and almond grow more pronounced the longer you let it sit. I prefer to make mine 24 hours in advance to get a nice blend of the flavors.