Capillaire or Simple Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Put the sugar in large lumps into a pot with boiling water.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Boil the mixture until it thickens and turns a slight yellow color, skimming carefully.
Cool and bottle
Once finished, pour the syrup into a jug and let it cool completely before bottling.
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
- Dissolves into the water to give sweetness and body, and thickens the liquid as it concentrates.
The step that matters
Boiling until slightly yellow. Sugar begins to caramelize as it heats further, so the color and flavor change quickly. Stopping at a slight yellow keeps the syrup sweet rather than bitter and dark. Skimming removes foam and impurities that would cloud the syrup.
“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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