How to Make: Golden Syrup (The British Style)

 

Golden syrup is one of Britain's greatest contribution to the culinary world.  It is a thick, sweet, golden syrup, that has a reddish tinted hue to it.  It looks like molten, edible amber.  Traditionally it is served drizzled on top of scones and clotted cream, (known in Cornwall as the, ''Thunder and Lightning'').  Though it may seem just like a sweetener, it actually has a unique slightly sourish, bitter flavour to it, which adds such depth to cakes, pies, biscuits, cookies and even in marinades.  It is an important ingredients required to make Chinese mooncakes.  Golden syrup is made of sugar and water which has been allowed to caramalise, and combine with an acid to it to make it stable as a liquid, preventing it from crystalisation.

For so many months, I've been looking for Golden Syrup (yes, the name deserves to be capatilised),  in the USA, but I've had no luck.  The only thing that bared any resemblance in look, was Aunt Jemina's pancake syrup, which we all know, is an inferior, cheap substitution of real maple syrup.  Not only does it not taste good, but it's not quite bad for you (not saying that Golden Syrup is health food too).  Golden Syrup however, is available widely in Canada, made by the traditional UK brand Lyle's and our own Canadian brand, Roger's, both packaged in tins and glass jars.  It is also widely available in the UK (of course), Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, Norway.... the list goes on, but not so common in the USA apparently.  So with no luck in finding it in the USA, I figured why not try making it at home?  I searched up some recipes and I based it upon this recipe from Neck Red Recipe's Blog, but only made a small batch, because I wasn't sure how it would turn out.  I tweaked the recipe and the texture was very close to the ones in the market!  The scent is not like the commercial ones, but it's pretty good! I think it's a fantastic recipe!  It's a must-try, especially since you'll need them to make lots of Nigella Lawson's recipes!  Again, both metric and imperial are listed, but the metric measurements will ensure consistent results.

Thanks so much to Neck Red Recipes!

How to make Golden Syrup:
From: Kubeen81 Recipes
Yields- 300 mL (about 1 1/4 US cup)
Preparation- 1 min
Cooking Time: 45 min

Ingredients:

100 gm White sugar  (1/2 cup)
50 mL of Water (3 tbsp plus 1 teaspoon)

500 gm of white sugar (2 1/2 cups)
300 mL of boiling water (1 1/4 cup)
15 mL of lemon juice (1 tbsp)
2 slices of lemon, seeded

Preparation:

1.) Measure the ingredients out.

2.) Boil the water.

Method:

1.)  In a saucepan, preferably stainless steel, turn the burner on to medium heat

2.) Add in the first two ingredients on the list (100 gm of sugar and 50 mL of water).

3.) Swirl the pan to mix, but don't stir with foreign utensils :)

4.)  Let it turn into a dark deep amber colour.  Be careful, the stage of turning to an amber colour and having it burned, is very quick, so keep a good eye on it, and be ready for the next step when it turns to an amber colour.

First stage of the sugar and water

Starting to carmalise

5.)  Once it turns amber in colour, add the rest of the sugar (500 gm), boiling water, lemon juice and lemon slices.

6.)  Swirl the pan again, but don't mix again.  Turn the burner to the lowest heat possible.

With all the ingredients added in, you can use a brush to stir when it has been cooking for 20 min

7.)  Let it simmer for 45 min.

8.)  After 45 min, take it off the burner and let it cool (about 4 hours or overnight).

9.)  It should be thick, glossy, and have a beautiful shine to it.  You can keep the lemon slices and eat as candied lemons if desired.

It's done!  Let it cool now.

10.)  Transfer into glass jars and store.  If not using within the next month, be sure to sterilise the jar, it should last a good year or even longer.

11.) Serve drizzled on top of scones and cream, or using in baking and marinades


Tips and Advice:

**  Try not to stir when it is in the pan to avoid crystalisation.  You may stir once it is 20 min in with the cooking process.

**Be careful when handling with sugar, it is like lava.  Allow it to cool completely before transferring them to jars to prevent from injuries.

**After the 45 minutes, the syrup will look very watery, but don't worry as it cools, it will thicken a lot.

**If it is too watery after it cools, put it back on the heat (low) and let it cook for another 20 min.

**If it turns out too hard, make a half batch of the recipe and turn on the on low to let it cook.  It should be right after you let it cool.

**Be careful not to burn the sugar at the beginning, it is very easy to do so.

** For easy clean up, add some water to the saucepan, and let it boil on the stove.  Discard the water, and it should be easy to clean the pan.

So thick a gleamingly beautiful to look at.

As Nigella said, ''edible amber''

Dribbling some more.

Serve with butter and bread.  It's just as good...