A world of flavour awaits with myriad uses - enter the home-made flavoured syrup
From punch bowls and cocktails to slushies, granitas, ice cream and other desserts, home-made syrups are an easy way to inject some sweet flavour. A simple syrup is the foundation of many a cocktail and is made by heating equal parts sugar and water, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely, before cooling and transferring to a clean bottle or jar. But that’s just the beginning, infusing ingredients into the mix offers up a world of flavour, with many uses.
Essentially, all you have to do is add the flavouring ingredient while simmering the basic syrup. Leave the added ingredient in the syrup to cool to let the flavour develop further, then strain out any solids and you’re left with a flavoured syrup that can last for a couple of weeks in the fridge in a sealed bottle or jar. Be aware: there are ingredients that don’t play well with too much heat, in which case you should add them to the simple syrup while it’s cooling, or has been cooled, and leave to infuse.
Once you’ve played around with the basic formula you can start getting creative with paired ingredients, for example: Earl Grey and lavender; cinnamon and coffee; chilli and citrus. Here we explore some of the basic flavour options and how to put them to delicious use.
Berries in particular lend themselves particularly well to a syrup. Crush the berries while they’re heating to release all those lovely flavours – and fine strain out the solids. Use on ice cream, to sweeten up a home-made lemonade or iced tea, pour over pancakes, or add to crushed ice for a cooling slushy treat. There is a shortcut for fruit syrups too: use the juices from tinned fruit. The liquid from tinned black Doris plums, for instance, goes great with whisky, soda and a dash of lemon. Lychee syrup pairs well with fresh ginger. Or get creative with your own combination.
Tea and coffee
Steeped Earl Grey tea with equal parts sugar or honey makes an aromatic tea syrup – lovely with lemon, lots of ice, and a dash of gin or vodka. Fruit teas, too, make for good syrup. Or simmer strong coffee and sugar together for a coffee syrup to use for iced coffees, to pour over ice cream or whisk up a sweet espresso martini.
Grapefruit and martini granita. Photo / Babiche Martens.
Citrus sensations
Add citrus juice and peels to a simple syrup and let simmer for a while before cooling and straining. A citrus-infused syrup is perfect to sweeten up a refreshing glass of iced tea. Or to pour over cake. Kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass both lend themselves very well to a syrup concoction. Combine them to make an aromatic syrup for some refreshing cocktails.
Spice time
Add cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, peppercorns or cardamom seeds, or a combination of them, to flavour up some sugar syrup for some warming flavours. Or try fresh ginger and/or chilli for a spicy hit. Add a touch of spice to your desserts by drizzling spice-infused syrups over cinnamon rolls, poached pears, or vanilla ice cream. Split a vanilla bean and let it dance in your sugar-water concoction while heating. A splash of this luxurious vanilla syrup is the perfect finishing touch for desserts, from ice cream sundaes to cakes.
Herbal and floral friendships
Hard herbs, such as thyme and rosemary, can be heated in simple syrup. Soft herbs like basil and mint need to be added at the cooling stage. Consider lavender flowers and rose petals (make sure it’s an edible variety, pesticide-free and use the petals only) – these are lovely added to a champagne cocktail.
The syrup-granita connection
Syrup and granita are culinary companions. The liquid base of a granita involves simple syrup as the sweetening agent. Once the mixture is prepared, it is poured into a shallow dish and placed in the freezer. Over the next few hours, the granita is periodically scraped with a fork to create a crystalline texture. When incorporating flavoured syrups into the granita base, the result is a frozen dessert with a vibrant hit of flavour, whether it’s a citrus and chilli-infused syrup in a spiced lemon granita or a berry and basil-infused syrup in a herby strawberry granita. Mint-infused syrup complements a lime granita, creating a harmonious blend of sweetness and freshness. Spices like cinnamon or cardamom add complexity to an apple or pear granita.
