Sugar syrup

Sugar syrup recipe

Sugar syrup is to the world of cocktails what stock is to a chef. It bonds flavours together, in this case both sweetening and adding body to drinks, desserts and sauces. The reason for adding a sugar syrup to cocktails or mocktails is simple. While sugar is easily dissolved into hot drinks, it is barely soluble in cold liquid. By turning sugar into a syrup, it can be easily swirled or shaken into drinks. Sugar syrup also gives a fuller, more rounded sweetness than just sugar alone. While you can buy sugar syrup, it’s so cheap and easy to make. With our versatile recipe you can make as big a batch as you like and use more or less sugar, according to your taste.

How to make this recipe for sugar syrup

We use white sugar rather than caster sugar in our basic sugar syrup recipe. Caster sugar is the same as granulated (it’s just blitzed longer so it’s finer) and one of the reasons caster sugar is used in baking is that it dissolves easily when creamed with butter due to the small size of the crystals. Because we’re dissolving our sugar with water, we use the bigger, white (or granulated) sugar. Make sure you stir your syrup with a clean wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved and then just leave it. Stirring while simmering can result in sugar crystals developing, which is the enemy of a smooth, silky sugar syrup. Make sure you simmer until the syrup has thickened but not for too long or it will turn into toffee. Allow the syrup to cool slightly before transferring to the jar as you don’t want the heat to crack the glass. The usual ratio for a simple sugar syrup is one cup of sugar to one cup of water, but you can play around with this according to what you’ll be using the syrup for.  

What are some creative ways to use sugar syrup?

Apart from making this sugar syrup recipe for cocktails, sugar syrups provide the base for sorbets used in this watermelon and coconut sorbet recipe or to flavour homemade cordials like this raspberry and lemonade cordial. You can use this sugar syrup recipe for cakes as well. Brush it between the layers of a cake to keep them moist or on top to help the icing stick. 

Love this recipe?

If you’ve made your sugar syrup to use in a cocktail, here are a few recipes to get you started. For those summer months, cool off with a classic mojito or a margarita on the rocks. Or try Millie Tang’s fine and dandy cocktail filled with cooling, floral flavours.