Demerara syrup is a rich, amber-coloured syrup made from Demerara sugar. The mellow caramel-like flavour is popular in coffee and cocktails. It adds deeper flavour than regular simple syrup and it's easy to make & use.
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Why I Love This Recipe
- Extremely simple recipe: Just 2 ingredients and ready in 5 minutes.
- Mellow flavour: Expect gentle notes of caramel with warming undertones. It's a step up from basic simple syrup made from white sugar.
- Versatile: Use it to sweeten coffee, cocktails & mocktails such as a rum espresso martini, an old-fashioned or a Mai Tai.
- Great as a gift: Put it into a pretty bottle and gift to someone special.
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This syrup can also be known as demerara simple syrup or Demerara sugar syrup. Use it to shake up a wonderful Italian iced coffee.
Don't miss my other syrups ideal for coffee drinks and cocktails - vanilla bean syrup and cardamom syrup are my favourites.
What Is Demerara Sugar?
- Demerara sugar is raw sugar extracted from sugarcane.
- As it has been minimally processed, Demerara sugar retains a golden colour and the grains are large and crunchy.
- Expect mellow toffee notes in the flavour.
- It originated from Demerara, a former British colony in South America now called Guyana.
Ingredients Notes
Demerara sugar: This is easy to find in UK supermarkets. Elsewhere in the world Turbinado sugar is a suitable substitute.
Note: Using alternative brown sugars or Muscovado sugars will alter the flavour profile, providing more pronounced caramel notes.
How To Make Demerara Syrup (Step-By-Step Instructions)
Full instructions and measurements are given in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Step 1. Put the Demerara sugar and water into a saucepan.
Step 2. Heat gently, until the sugar dissolves then turn up the heat and bring to simmering point. Remove from the heat, let cool and decant into a bottle.
Storage Instructions
Keep your Demerara simple syrup in a sealed bottle or jar in the fridge. It will stay fresh for 4 weeks, if not longer.
Expert Tips
- Measure accurately: If the ratio of sugar to water is out then your syrup could be sweeter/ less sweet than it should be. This will impact the final result of any recipe you follow that includes Demerara simple syrup.
- Don't boil it: Boiling your syrup will make it thicken and it will be harder to mix into cold ingredients.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it is not. Demerara sugar is milder in flavour than light brown, dark brown and muscovado sugars. Consequently, the flavour of Demerara sugar syrup is milder that that of syrups made with other brown sugars.
Yes, you can. However, you are unlikely to find it in a UK supermarket and would likely need to purchase it online. Expect to pay around £10-£12 per litre, taking into account delivery charges.
Homemade Demerara sugar syrup is much cheaper, with a likely cost of around £4 per litre.
No, it is not. Rich simple syrup is made with white sugar in a ratio of 2 parts sugar to 1 part water instead of the standard 1:1 ratio.
Demerara simple syrup has a richer, bolder flavour than simple syrup but using Demerara sugar in a 1:1 ratio does not result in what is typically considered rich simple syrup.
Variations
- Rich Demerara syrup: Make an extra thick, rich and flavoursome Demerara simple syrup by using 2 parts sugar to 1 part water (in this recipe that is 300g sugar to 150ml water).
- Vanilla Demerara sugar syrup: Stir a teaspoon of vanilla extract into your syrup once it has cooled.
- Cinnamon Demerara simple syrup: Add a cinnamon stick to the pan and leave it to infuse in the syrup as it cools down.
More Syrups for Coffee and Cocktails
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📖 Recipe
Demerara Syrup
Ingredients
- 150 g Demerara Sugar
- 150 ml Water
Instructions
- Put the Demerara sugar and water into a saucepan.
- Heat gently, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the sugar dissolves.
- Turn up the heat and bring to simmering point then immediately remove the pan from the heat.
- Let the syrup cool completely and decant into a bottle.
Notes
- Storage: Keep your Demerara simple syrup in a sealed bottle or jar in the fridge. It will stay fresh for 4 weeks, if not longer.
- Measure accurately: If the ratio of sugar to water is out then it could be sweeter/ less sweet than it should be. This will impact the final result of any recipe you follow that includes Demerara simple syrup.
- Don't boil it: Boiling your syrup will make it thicken and it will be harder to mix into cold ingredients.
- Rich Demerara syrup: Make an extra thick, rich and flavoursome Demerara simple syrup by using 2 parts sugar to 1 part water (in this recipe that is 300g sugar to 150ml water).
- Vanilla Demerara sugar syrup: Stir a teaspoon of vanilla extract into your syrup once it has cooled.
- Cinnamon Demerara simple syrup: Add a cinnamon stick to the pan and leave it to infuse in the syrup as it cools down.
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