Keep simple syrup on hand for mixing cocktails or sweetening your tea or fresh-squeezed lemonade.–Frank Stitt
LC Simple Pleasures Note
Simple syrup. Complex taste. Well, let us qualify that. The potential for complexity is over the moon when you follow chef Frank Stitt’s lead and infuse the sugar and water concoction with fresh herbs or other aromatics. Just add a large bunch of mint, lemon thyme, basil, lemon verbena, or anything else you please to the hot syrup and let it infuse at least 2 hours and, preferably, overnight, in the refrigerator. Then strain the syrup. It’s that simple.
Simple Syrup Recipe
Hands-On Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Makes 2 cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
Directions
- 1. Combine the sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring and swirling to dissolve the sugar. Dip a pastry brush in hot water and wipe down the sides of the pan to dissolve any sugar crystals that cling to the sides. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and let cool. Simple syrup keeps for weeks in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator.
Hungry for more? Chow down on these:
- DIY Flavored Syrups from Annie's Eats
- Rhubarb Syrup from Food in Jars
- Sugar Syrup from Leite's Culinaria
- Peaches and Nectarines with Rosemary-Honey Syrup from Leite's Culinaria
Simple Syrup Recipe © 2008 Frank Stitt. Photo © 2012 David Leite. All rights reserved.
