The Undertaker’s Pumpkin Spice Syrup!

Posted : August 10th, 2012

Here’s how I, Victor “The Undertaker” Ives, make pumpkin spice syrup for use in coffee or in anything I think could use a sweet, pumpkin spice kick! The longer you let it sit in the refrigerator, the clearer it gets as the sediment sinks to the bottom. Make two batches so you’ll always have one sitting and clarifying while you’re using the other. Making custom labels for your syrup is highly encouraged! Questions? Email: TheUndertaker@HauntedHotSauce.com!

BE CAREFUL! YOU’LL BE MAKING HOT (almost boiling) SYRUP!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups water
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp pumpkin puree (Optional. Pumpkin puree actually tastes like squash so you can leave this out. It’s a shame to buy a can of pumpkin only to use 2 Tbls of it. Some people are troubled by the fact that their pumpkin spice syrup doesn’t actually contain pumpkin so if you’re one of those people, feel free to add it.)

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the water and the sugar into a saucepan and simmer over low-medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Heat up slowly until bubbles appear. You want it almost boiling but not a rolling boil.

Add the spices and the pumpkin, stir and simmer for another 3 minutes. Keep it just barely below boiling, bubbles appearing on the edges but not a rolling boil. Stir frequently.

Turn it off and let it cool a bit. Strain off the bulk of the spices into a heat-safe container by pouring it through a clean dish towel, cheesecloth or a strainer (I use a strainer). You won’t get all of the sediment but that’s ok. I’ve heard suggestions to use a coffee filter but in my experience the cinnamon clogs them immediately, literally leaving you with a hot mess! The cinnamon may turn a bit “slimy” but that occurs naturally with inexpensive “grocery-store” cinnamon and is nothing to be concerned about.

Let it cool. Funnel the syrup into a bottle and refrigerate. (I sometimes skip the messy straining step above and instead just let it cool and funnel it straight into the bottle.) Most of the sediment in the bottle will continue to settle over the next few days (it’ll take a bit longer if you didn’t strain it) so pour the top syrup into a fresh bottle and discard the bottom sediment. If you used the pumpkin in your recipe you may notice three layers of settling. The top is the syrup, the middle tends to be the pumpkin and the bottom are the spice solids. If you used pumpkin in the recipe, pour the top two layers into a new bottle for use. This isn’t as hard as it sounds because the spice solids usually become almost completely solid and stay on the bottom of the bottle. The goal here is to pour the syrup into a fresh bottle leaving the grainy solids behind.

Here’s what I end up with! A sweet, slippery syrup that tastes of Autumn spice!

TO SERVE:

Pour a couple teaspoons of pumpkin spice syrup into your coffee mug. Pour hot coffee over the syrup and add cream as desired. For a special treat, cover top with whipped cream and sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg.

I wonder what this would taste like in brandy…or on ice cream? Hmmmmmm….

This recipe is a work in progress. If you discover something that makes this easier or somehow better, please let me know! Questions? Email me: TheUndertaker@HauntedHotSauce.com!