Sirop De Capillaire
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the infusion
Briefly immerse the maidenhair leaves in boiling water.
Transfer the leaves to tepid water and let them infuse for at least 12 hours over hot embers.
Strain the infusion through a sieve.
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water, and boil until it reaches the same consistency as violet syrup.
Add the maidenhair infusion to the sugar mixture without boiling.
Remove from heat once well mixed, and pour into a covered earthen pan.
Place the pan over hot embers for three days, maintaining a steady, gentle heat.
When the syrup forms a strong thread between your fingers, bottle it, ensuring it cools completely before corking.
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
- Maidenhair leaves
- Provide the flavour and aroma that the infusion carries into the syrup.
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and the body that lets the syrup thicken into a strong thread.
The step that matters
Adding the infusion to the sugar mixture without boiling. Boiling the infusion can drive off delicate aromatic compounds and alter the flavour, so it is added off the boil and only mixed in gently.
“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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