Homemade Gingerbread Syrup

5 from 2 votes

This homemade gingerbread syrup for coffee is made from fresh ginger, warming spices, treacle and dark sugar. It's simple to prepare, smells fantastic and it has so many uses. This gingerbread simple syrup is not just for coffee and it's not just for Christmas!

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Infusing time2

Total Time2 10

Course: Sauce/ Condiment

Cuisine: American, Worldwide

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 53kcal

Author: Jane Coupland

Ingredients

240 ml Water
75 g Dark muscovado sugar
1½ tablespoons Black treacle (dark molasses - not blackstrap)
30 g Fresh ginger (no need to peel it)
5 Cloves
2 Cinnamon sticks (each 10cm/ 3-inches long)
½ teaspoon Allspice berries
¼ teaspoon Vanilla extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Give the cinnamon, cloves and allspice a quick bash using a pestle and mortar to break them up, but do not grind them to a powder. Chop the ginger into small pieces
Put all of the ingredients, except the vanilla extract, into a saucepan and heat gently to dissolve the sugar
Bring almost to the boil and remove from the heat
Let infuse for 2 hours (or longer for a more intense flavour)
Stir in the vanilla extract and strain through a fine meshed sieve
Store in a sealable bottle in the fridge for up to 1 month

Notes

This recipe makes approximately 250ml which is enough for around eight 30ml servings
Don't waste time peeling the ginger - thesere's no need
There's no need to boil this syrup - that will cause it to thicken and it won't blend so well into some drinks
Don't rush the infusion time. Two hours is the minimum it should be left for the syrup to pick up all of the spice flavours. It's fine to leave it longer for an even more intense flavour
It's best to use muslin cloth or a nut milk bag to strain this syrup to ensure no gritty pieces of spice remain
Use this syrup sparingly. I find that 30-40ml is sufficient for most drinks. The idea is to add a gentle waft of gingerbread flavour to the drink, not to overpower any other flavours completely
However, use your own judgement and adjust the amount used down/up if you find your drink too sweet/ too strong/ not strong enough
This syrup is gluten-free

Is this Syrup Vegan?

If made with vegan sugar (not all of it is) and Lyle's black treacle then this gingerbread flavoured syrup is vegan.

If using alternative molasses, be aware that some molasses are manufactured as a by-product of a production process that involves animal products (bone char). Any molasses made this way is clearly non-vegan, so it's worth checking on the packaging to be certain.

Serving Suggestion

Try adding 30-40ml to a milk coffee to make a gingerbread latte. Alternatively, use the same amount to flavour 180ml steamed milk.

Nutrition