How to Make Simple Syrup

Learn how to make Simple Syrup for all your favourite drink and cocktail recipes! An easy simple syrup tutorial for beginners made with only 2 ingredients!

 

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

When it comes to making the switch from store-bought to homemade, there are a few staple recipes that have made it into our cooking and baking repertoire on the regular. This Simple Syrup recipe is the BEST and EASIEST way to simplify making all kinds of homemade drinks at home. It’s made with only 2 ingredients, it’s ready to use in minutes, and it’s the best way to sweeten all your favourite ice tea recipes, lemonades, cocktails, mocktails and even iced coffee!

Simple syrup is one of those fundamental recipes used by chefs, bartenders, and pastry chefs all over the world to sweeten desserts, beverages, and sauces. Simple syrup is best described by its own name – it’s just a solution of sugar dissolved in water, typically using equal parts of both water and sugar by volume. When heated, the sugar dissolves to create a clear, sweet liquid that mixes easily into other liquids, unlike granulated sugar, which can settle at the bottom of cold drinks or create graininess in mixtures.

Traditional simple syrup uses a one-to-one volume ratio of sugar to water, making it perfect for adding a light sweetness to your favourite drinks.

Rich simple syrup doubles the sweetness because it calls for two parts sugar to one part water. It’s a thicker and more viscous syrup with a longer shelf life and much more sweetness. It’s rich, it’s sweeter, and it’s perfect for sweeter cocktails and strong coffees or intensely flavoured desserts.

There are 2 very common ways to use simple syrup in the kitchen: in drinks and in desserts. Here’s a quick breakdown of how to use simple syrup in all your favourite recipes!

Simple syrup is great for sweetening drinks because it dissolves instantly, providing a quick and uniform sweetness throughout the beverage. This is important especially for cold beverages where sugar crystals would otherwise remain undissolved in the liquid. To sweeten a warm or cold drink with simple syrup, start with a small amount – a tablespoon or so – and stir it into your drink. Taste, and add more if you wish until you reach your desired level of sweetness.

In baking, simple syrup isn’t only just for sweetening frostings, it’s also used to add moisture to cakes and other baked goods. After baking, layer cakes can be brushed lightly with simple syrup before applying frostings or fillings. This technique keeps the cake moist throughout the layers and can help in evening out any dry textures, helping the cake stay moist and fresh for a longer period of time.

Both simple syrup and rich simple syrup should be stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator. We like using mason jars because of their tight seal and their ability to keep the syrup fresh for as long as possible. Simple syrup can last up to 2-3 weeks in the fridge, while rich simple syrup can last even longer (4-5 weeks) due to its high sugar content (sugar acts as a natural preservative).

One important note about storing your simple syrup: make sure the jar or container you use is clean (you can even sterilize it in the dishwasher) and always use a clean utensil in the jar to avoid contaminating the syrup and causing it to spoil faster. Use a funnel to add it to the jar or bottle to be sure the rim stays clean and has a proper seal.

Here’s a list of all our best tips and tricks for making your own simple syrup at home!

For the clearest syrup, avoid letting the mixture boil vigorously; a gentle simmer is sufficient to dissolve the sugar without incorporating too many air bubbles, which can cause cloudiness.

Using filtered water is a good idea, especially if the quality of your tap water isn’t the best where you live. Tap water can contain minerals or chemicals that can give the syrup a slight flavour.

If you plan to use the simple syrup within a few days of making it, there’s no need to do this. But if you plan to put a splash or two in your coffee each morning over a week or two, sterilizing the container before you add the syrup will help it last longer. Just add it to your dishwasher to be sure it’s nice and clean and remove it when it’s hot, not allowing anything to touch the inside of the jar.

Storing the syrup in an airtight container in the fridge is a MUST if you want to keep it fresh for as long as possible. Be sure the lid is on tight when you store it, and don’t introduce a dirty spoon or other utensil into the container while it’s being stored.

Here’s a list of things that might go wrong when making simple syrup and how to prevent and fix them:

If the sugar isn’t dissolving, resist the urge to crank the heat and boil the syrup. Be patient, stir gently, and keep it over medium heat (or medium-low, depending on your stove). The sugar will dissolve when the mixture is at a gentle simmer.

If the syrup is cloudy right after it’s made, it could be because it boiled to much or because the water contained a lot of minerals. If it’s cloudy or yellow after it’s been stored in the fridge, it may have gone bad. In this case, it’s better to toss it out and start again.

Sometimes, simple syrup can crystallize after storage. This usually happens if the syrup wasn’t fully heated to dissolve all sugar crystals or if it was stirred too vigorously while cooling. To fix crystallization, simply reheat the syrup slowly until the crystals dissolve. Prevent future issues by ensuring complete dissolution of sugar during the initial cooking process.

Here’s what you’ll need to have on hand in your kitchen to make this simple syrup (paid links):

• a small pot or a small saucepan
• a Whisk
• Measuring Cups
• a Mason Jar and a Reusable Mason Jar Lid or any other airtight storage jar, bottle or container that can be thoroughly cleaned (glass is best)

This simple syrup recipe is made from only two ingredients! You’ll just need one part sugar and one part water.

We recommend using granulated sugar when making simple syrup, and our recipe calls for 1 1/2 cup water and 1 1/2 cup sugar.

There are so many ways to take this simple syrup recipe to the next level. All you have to do is add any additional ingredients at the beginning of the cooking process and avoid boiling the syrup. Let the flavours infuse while the syrup cools. Here are a few of our favourite variations on the basic simple syrup recipe:

1. Fresh Herbs. Add some fresh rosemary, thyme, mint, or even basil for a herb-infused simple syrup.
2. Fruit. Flavour your simple syrup with blueberry, blackberry, cranberry, raspberry, or even strawberry (for making daiquiris, of course!).
3. Citrus. Add some lemon or lime juice along with some fresh lemons, limes, (in slices, of course) and citrus peel.
4. Floral. Add some edible lavender and a vanilla bean for a delicious vanilla lavender simple syrup.
5. Vanilla. Slice open a vanilla bean or two and add it to the syrup for an intense vanilla flavour! This version is perfect for desserts!
6. Spicy. Add a cinnamon stick, some fresh ginger, cloves or other whole spices (like star anise or allspice), and orange peels for a holiday inspired syrup, or make it spicy with some whole jalapeños or jalapeño slices.
7. Brown Sugar. Depart from the classics and try a brown sugar syrup where you replace the granulated sugar with brown sugar. This one tastes great in coffee!
8. Pumpkin. Make our Pumpkin Spice syrup this fall for all your homemade pumpkin spice lattes!

Follow the exact same process to make Rich Simple Syrup with one exception: use a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water instead of a 1:1 ratio. We like a ratio of 2 cups sugar to 1 cup water.

We hope you love this recipe as much as we do! Let us know in the comments below, how would you use this simple syrup recipe? We’d love to know!

• Strawberry Lemonade
• Iced Caramel Latte
• Iced Matcha Latte
• Healthy Homemade Iced Tea
• Healthy Sparkling Mojito Lemonade
• Peach Tea
• Healthy Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino
• Easy Homemade Caramel Frappuccino
• Iced Vanilla Latte
• Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade (Copycat Recipe)