Making your own simple syrup really makes a difference in your drinks and desserts. A simple syrup is just equal parts granulated sugar and water. The sugar and water are combined in a saucepan, then you add whatever additional ingredients you want for flavoring. In this case it’s orange peel!
There are many recipes that call for sweetness, but where you don’t want to add granulated sugar. This is because it can be hard to get the sugar combined well in a cold recipe, like in a margarita! Or in Watermelon Lime Popsicles. Or in Watermelon Granita. ; )
You want to make sure when you peel the orange that you are only getting the orange part, not the white pith under the peel. That pith is bitter and you don’t want to add bitterness to the syrup! I have an OXO peeler and it does a perfect job of this. I can easily peel the entire orange with no pith in no time.
You will only use the peel from the orange in this recipe. So after you have your orange peeled, you can either just eat it, or squeeze it for juice to use in a salad dressing like my Orange Sherry Vinaigrette!
This recipe can also be changed to use any kind of citrus. Lime, lemon and grapefruit all make delicious simple syrups.
Orange Simple Syrup
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups 1x
Description
Use this easy simple syrup for drinks and desserts!
Ingredients
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 cup of water
- Peel from a whole orange. The orange part only, avoid any of the pith (the white part) as it can be bitter.
Instructions
- Add the cup of sugar and cup of water to a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium low. Stir the sugar into the water as it heats up. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the orange peels to the pan. Return to a low simmer.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Don’t boil the syrup, just a gentle simmer. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool. Once the mixture has cooled, remove the orange peel and pour the golden liquid into a glass jar with a cover.
- Keep in the refrigerator for up to a month.
