Spiced Caramel Syrup
While this syrup was created by the pastry chef Daniel Skurnick to pour over his Franco-Chinese steamed ginger-milk custard, it’s a good recipe to have handy when you want something to pour over cooked fruit, ice cream or pudding – I like it paired with vanilla, chocolate or butterscotch. It’s a quickly made syrup flavored with peppercorns, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Mr. Skurnick says you should cook the caramel until its color is “Irish-setter red” before adding the spices – it’s a perfect description of what you’re looking for.
- Total:
- Serves: 6 persons
Ingredients
- ½cup (100 grams) sugar
- 10black peppercorns
- 4whole cloves
- 1slice nutmeg (about 1/4 of a whole nutmeg)
- 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
- ¼cup (60 milliliters) water
Instructions
Step 1
Pour the sugar into a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan set over medium-high heat. Once the sugar starts to color, swirl the pan so that it melts and colors evenly.Step 2
When the caramel is a light reddish-brown color, or as Mr. Skurnick says, “Irish-setter red” (it takes about 5 minutes to reach this stage), drop in the spices and, standing away from the pan, carefully pour in the water. When it boils, reduce the heat to very low and cook for 2 minutes.Step 3
Strain the caramel into a heatproof container (discard the spices or use them for tea), and cool completely. You can keep the syrup covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. It will thicken; warm gently to reliquefy.