Simple Syrup Recipes

While Chris and I were away on our honeymoon, I made a list of things I wanted to do when we got home. One of those things was to host a little cocktail party! In preparation for the day I decided to make my own simple syrups to make things a bit easier for myself. Basically these are used to sweeten any cocktail, since sugar tends to not dissolve, which you will have already discovered if you are Mojito lover like me!

It turned out to be really easy, and I had most of the things I needed to make it already in the cupboard. The most basic ingredients are granulated sugar and water in equal parts, but you can add different flavourings depending on what you have in mind for your cocktail!

What you will need:

Ingredients

Sugar

Water

Flavouring (optional)

Equipment

Saucepan

Wooden spoon

Glass bowl or large jug

Cling film

Sieve for straining

A bottle to decant your syrup into

First of all I made some plain simple syrup using 2 cups of demerera sugar and 2 cups of water. The trick is to always use the same amounts of these two ingredients. I simply heated the water in a saucepan until simmering, and then added my sugar. I left it on a low heat for about 15 minutes until the sugar had fully dissolved, and stirred continually.  I let the syrup cool in a covered bowl, then decanted into this rather pretty little bottle, which I got from Dunelm Mill. It made slightly less than 500ml  I imagine if you want a clearer coloured syrup you could try giving white sugar a go instead.

Then I got a little more adventurous and tried a couple with flavourings, since I was having a watermelon cocktail and a mojito style cocktail.

The mint syrup was easy, I just added about 2 packed cups of fresh mint after the syrup was made, but before cooling.  I left this to steep all day, then once it was cool I put it in the fridge overnight.  In the morning I strained it and decanted it into my bottle

I found it trickier to find a recipe for watermelon syrup, so in the end I made up my own. I decided to blend some chopped watermelon to make a juice, I used about the same amount as I did water, and I added this right at the beginning. I also added a few chunks of watermelon. I left this one to simmer a bit longer since there was more liquid. Again I left it to steep and then strained it into a bottle.

Amazingly, although it was my first go all three simple syrups worked really well, and the drinks I made went down a storm.  I'll fill you in on the full recipes and how the rest of the party went later in the week!

What are your favourite cocktail recipes?

Laura xXx