Crafting simple syrups: Essential techniques for bold baking

Hi Bold Bakers, welcome to Bold Baking Basics. This is where we get stuck into the fundamentals of baking. These videos are about getting you to bake with confidence anytime, anywhere. Right now I'm going to show you how you can make flavored simple syrups. Now these are different to extracts, these are lightly flavored syrups made with sugar and water and you can add them into loads of different recipes and even drinks. The recipes for these syrups can be found on BiggerBolderBaking.com along with all of my other recipes. Okay let's get started with the recipe. The first flavor we're going to make is a classic vanilla. In a heavy bottom saucepan we're going to add in our water, sugar, and vanilla pod. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up to medium and let it simmer away for roughly 7-8 minutes. So once your time is up, turn off the heat and move it over to the side. Now we're just gonna let this infuse, the flavor is gonna become even stronger, we also want it to cool down before we put it into our jar. So it's been half an hour, my syrup has cooled down completely, and I'm gonna pour it into my little jar. I have a link on my website of where you can get these jars, they're really useful. And there you have a vanilla simple syrup, now this little guy will last in your fridge for up to two months, and you can use it in a variety of different recipes, and I've put a list on the website, but what I love to do is stir this into a little bit of yogurt. So you saw how easy that was to do, you can do this with any of your favorite flavors. One of mine is orange. All you have to do is in a heavy bottomed saucepan, add in your water, sugar, some orange rind, let it come to a simmer for 7-8 minutes, cool it down, and then pour it into your jar. So just like vanilla, this can be used in a variety of different ways. I like to put it into drinks, especially into like a fall sangria around autumn time. The next simple syrup is something that I find so many uses for, and it's mint. The same thing as before, in a heavy bottom saucepan, water, sugar and lots of fresh mint. Then just let it simmer away for 7-8 minutes. Okay I know you can't smell it but this is really smelling amazing. So I'm gonna turn it off the heat and push it over to the side and let it cool down completely. So the difference about this simple syrup is you will want to remove the mint before it goes into your jar otherwise it can get quite bitter. Okay fill them up, pop on your lid, and you're ready for the fridge. And I really love to add this into drinks and actually pour it over fruit as well, give it a little bit of extra sweetness and that fresh flavor. One other thing I like to do is pour it in with a little bit of tea and it really just takes it to a whole other level. So when the weather starts to get a little bit cooler outside, you love those fall flavors, you can have cinnamon simple syrup. Same deal as the other ones, you add in water, sugar, and then some cinnamon sticks, let Let it simmer away, then after a few minutes turn off the heat and let it cool down. So into my lovely little jar I'm gonna pour in my cooled cinnamon syrup. Then pop on your lid. So let me tell you my favorite way to use this, I love to add a little bit of it into my oatmeal in the morning especially in the winter time, it just really warms you up. So I showed you just a few simple ways to use these syrups and they can enhance so many recipes. Make sure you head over to my website because I've got lots more basics like how to make homemade butter and even homemade food dyes. I really hope you enjoy this episode and I'll see you back here really soon for more Bigger Bolder Baking.