I know it’s a bit passé, but I enjoy the flavour of spiced pumpkin this time of year, especially pumpkin chai and pumpkin lattes. After trying several shop-bought syrups and finding them artificial, I decided to try to make pumpkin syrup myself. It took two attempts, and the syrup isn’t very thick, but it’s absolutely delicious in tea and coffee.
Easy Pumpkin Syrup:
1 cup chopped fresh pumpkin (you can use tinned pumpkin if you like)
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick cinnamon, broken into pieces
5 whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 cardamom pods, opened but not crushed
1.5 cups of water
Boil the pumpkin and the spices in the water until the pumpkin falls apart – 30-45 minutes. Cool slightly and carefully strain through a clean cloth* so that all of the liquid is collected. Return the liquid back to the pan with the caster and the brown sugar and boil for about 10 minutes. Then decant your lovely syrup into a sterile jar. It’ll keep in the fridge for about 3 weeks.
* be sure that the cloth doesn’t have any residual washing powder ‘flavour’. This is what ruined my first attempt!
Fig and Pen 