Homemade Gingerbread Syrup for Coffee and Cocktails
Gingerbread syrup built on fresh ginger root, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and molasses, steeped off the heat and then strained so nothing settles in the bottom of your glass. One batch fills a bottle and keeps for two weeks in the fridge, which is long enough to work through coffee, cocktails and a stack of pancakes.
Servings: 16
Calories: 80kcal
Ingredients
- 1½ cups light brown sugar 305 g
- 1½ cups water 352 ml
- 3 inches fresh ginger 60 g, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons whole cloves 4 g
- 2 large cinnamon sticks 10 g
- ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns 1 g
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 g
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice 1 g
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 10 ml
- 1 to 2 tablespoons molasses 15 to 30 ml, NOT blackstrap
Instructions
- Peel the ginger and slice it thinly.
- In a medium pot over medium heat, stir the water and brown sugar together until the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Add the ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, nutmeg and allspice.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes to infuse.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve. For a completely clear syrup, line the sieve with a layer or two of cheesecloth to catch the ground spices.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and molasses to taste, starting with 1 tablespoon of molasses.
- Let it cool to warm before pouring into a glass or plastic bottle. Seal once fully cool and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Make ahead and storage: keeps up to 2 weeks sealed in the fridge. The flavor settles and matures as it chills.
For a clearer syrup: a sieve alone catches the whole spices, but the ground nutmeg and allspice pass straight through. A layer or two of cheesecloth in the sieve catches those.
Molasses: use regular or dark, not blackstrap, which is bitter enough to carry through the whole bottle. Start with 1 tablespoon and add the second only if you want it.