Image is for illustrative purposes only.
Stock syrup is the simplest and most useful thing you can keep in a pastry kitchen. It is nothing more than equal weights of sugar and water boiled together, with a little fresh lemon juice added to keep it clear and stop it crystallising in the bottle.
Brushed over sponge layers it puts back the moisture lost in baking and carries flavour into the crumb without making the cake soggy. It is also the base for flavoured soaking syrups: once it is cold, stir in rum, liqueur, coffee, citrus zest or vanilla to suit the cake you are building. Keep a jar of it in the fridge and it is ready whenever you cut a sponge.
Ingredients
The weights in the recipe table below will yield the following 'weight per unit' and 'number of units'. If you would like to change the recipe to cater to a different 'weight per unit' and/or 'number of units',
you can use the Recipe Calculator Tool below the ingredients table.
Note: The Recipe Calculator Tool is available to subscribers.
Weight Per Unit: 1025
Number of Units: 1
Unit Size: jar of soaking syrup, about 1 litre
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WEIGHT
(grams)
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ALTERNATIVE METRIC
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INGREDIENT
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IMAGE
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CONDITION
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A
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500 |
17.6 ounces
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Sugar
Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
caster or white granulated
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B
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500 |
2.1 cups
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Water
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C
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25 |
2 tablespoons
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Fresh Lemon Juice
Fresh lemon juice is the juice squeezed from whole lemons and strained of seeds and pulp. It gives a natural sharpness and aroma that bottled juice cannot match, and roughly three medium lemons will yield the amount needed here.
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strained |
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1025
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Recipe Calculator Tool
Using this tool, you can alter this recipe for your own requirements. Use the two fields below to generate new weights for the ingredients above.
STEP 1. Enter your Custom Weight Per Unit
The 'Custom Weight Per Unit' is already loaded with the weight per unit for this recipe but can be changed if required. If all you wish to do is change the number of units (or servings), just leave the current weight per unit.
STEP 2. Enter your Custom Number of Units
This is the number of units (or servings) you want this recipe to yield.
STEP 3. Click Calculate
The new weights for your adjusted recipe will be displayed in the table above.
Method
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STEP
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ACTION
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DETAIL
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CONDITION
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1 |
Prepare |
Have a clean, dry jar or bottle with a tight lid ready, along with a heavy-based saucepan. |
Everything spotlessly clean so the syrup keeps well |
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2 |
Combine |
Put A and B (caster sugar and water) into the saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. |
No grains left on the base of the pan |
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3 |
Boil |
Bring to a full boil and let it bubble for about 1 minute. Brush down any sugar crystals from the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. |
Clear and completely transparent |
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4 |
Add |
Take the pan off the heat and stir in C (fresh lemon juice). |
Syrup stays clear, no cloudiness |
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5 |
Cool |
Leave the syrup to cool to room temperature, then pour it into the jar or bottle. |
Cold before flavouring or bottling |
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6 |
Store |
Keep the syrup in the fridge and use as needed. To flavour it, stir spirits, liqueur, coffee, citrus zest or vanilla into the cold syrup rather than the hot. |
Alcohol and delicate flavours stay in the syrup when it is cold |
Important Notes
This recipe makes roughly 1 litre of syrup. Stored in a clean, sealed bottle in the fridge it keeps for several weeks; discard it if it ever looks cloudy or smells fermented. For soaking sponge, brush it on generously while the sponge layers are at room temperature — a 25 cm round sponge layer will take around 80 to 100 g. The lemon juice is not there for flavour; the acid keeps the syrup from crystallising in the bottle. If you want a sweeter, heavier syrup for glazing rather than soaking, boil it a minute or two longer to drive off a little more water.
Tools & Arrangements
Kitchen scales, heavy-based saucepan, wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, pastry brush, clean glass jar or bottle with a lid, pastry brush for soaking the sponge
