One of my ezine subscribers requested this recipe and I thought some of you may want to try it too. One word of warning; rosemary is a very strong flavour so you don’t need much of it. I made it to drizzle onto a lemon cake and it was different but nice. Rosemary goes particularly well with oranges so you could use this syrup drizzled onto some freshly cut orange segments.
This method can be used for other herbs as well although herbs with more delicate leaves do not need to be simmered after adding to the mixture; just leave them to infuse for half an hour.
Cut and wash 3 to 6 sprigs of rosemary. You can put the whole
sprigs into the sugar solution or strip the leaves from the stems,
bruising or chopping them to help bring out the flavour; you will need
approximately 3 tablespoons.
Place 200gms sugar in a pan with 200ml water and bring to the boil until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Add the rosemary to the mixture and simmer gently for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover. Leave to infuse for at least half an hour then strain out the leaves.
This syrup can be stored in a jar which can be kept in the refrigerator for about 1 week. If it is for use on a cake, prick the cake all over with a thin skewer or
toothpick and drizzle the syrup over so that it completely
soaks into the cake.
Hmm, lemon balm syrup or mint syrup sound tasty, might try that next or maybe I should make cough syrup instead, there seems to be so many people with coughs and colds at the moment!
If you have any favourites or other ways you use syrups, feel free to leave a comment below.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I adore rosemary and this recipe sounds delicious. Thank you for sharing.
I make lemon verbena syrup the same way and also rose geranium syrup using the leaves. Lavender flower syrup is nice drizzled over lemon cakes as well.
Herby x
Hello there, I am searching and searching and can’t seem to find any information about using Geranium oil in cooking? I wanted to use it to scent icing and wondered if it was safe to eat.
You are the closes I have come to finding any sense about flowers in food ; ) !
Jess
Hello Jess
I’ve asked an essential oil supplier and they recommend that you don’t use them in cooking even though some chefs do. I have a book called ‘Aroma’ by Mandy Aftel and Daniel Patterson which has lots of recipes using essential oils but I am also a bit wary about using them in food.
If you want the geranium scent and are making a sponge cake it is easier to place a few pelargonium leaves in the base of the tin before adding the mixture to get a lovely flavour or even chop them very finely into the mixture.
Hope this helps.
If anyone has any more information about using essential oils in cooking, please leave a comment below. Thanks.
Madeleine
Hi,
I come from the French Aromatherapy school, as a Dutch aromatherapist, and we do use essential oils in manufacturing food, for their tase. But you can sure use them in the kitchen, as long as they’ re biological. There is a famous ex-cook Frank vandaele who wrote a book about is, and you might as wel look at the weblog of Pranarom http://www.pranarom.be and follow the instructions to their web-log after you choose the English flag.
Use them bio, with parcimony and then there is no problem.
otherwise, try to google on English translation of the book Valérie Cupillard: Cuisiner avec les huiles essentielles.
Have a nice Geranium-icecream !!