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Cowslips, Syrup of

A sweet syrup made by infusing fresh cowslip flowers in boiling water and sweetening with white sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Cowslips, Syrup of

Ingredients

Directions

Infuse the flowers

  1. Place fresh cowslip flowers in a container.

  2. Pour boiling water over the flowers and let it infuse for 24 hours.

  3. Strain the mixture to remove the flowers.

Make the syrup

  1. Add white sugar to the strained liquid.

  2. Boil gently until it reaches a syrupy consistency.

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

Cowslip flowers
Gives the syrup its floral aroma and flavor as it steeps in the water.
White sugar
Adds sweetness and, once boiled down, thickness to the syrup.

The step that matters

Boil gently until syrupy. As water evaporates, the sugar concentration rises and the syrup thickens. Stopping too early leaves it thin and watery, while boiling too long over-thickens it and can darken its color as the sugar begins to caramelize.

“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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