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Dessert

Table Syrup

Table syrup is a sweet liquid made by boiling water, sugar, and alum.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Table Syrup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a kettle, combine water, sugar, and pulverized alum.

  2. Boil the mixture for 3 minutes.

  3. Strain the syrup while it is still hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Provides sweetness and the bulk of the syrup, dissolving into the water to form the liquid.
Water
Dissolves the sugar so it can form a pourable syrup when boiled.
Pulverized alum
Helps keep the syrup clear and discourages sugar crystals from forming.

The step that matters

Strain the syrup while it is still hot. Hot syrup flows through a strainer easily and stays fluid. As it cools, sugar solution becomes thicker and more prone to crystallising, so straining promptly helps keep it smooth and clear.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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