The DIY Pantry (56 page)
Authors: Kresha Faber
True, old-fashioned ginger ale is made using yeast like a lot of other ales. But yeast ales takes time to brew. This soda syrup substitute is quick and easy and can be made at home without very many ingredients. You don’t have to wait for two days for the fermentation to finish, so you can enjoy it whenever you’d like. It’s very refreshing on a hot summer day.
HANDS-ON:
10 minutes
INACTIVE:
1 hour
INACTIVE:
1 hour
DIFFICULTY LEVEL:
∗
YIELD:
Serves 6; Makes 3 cups syrup
COST PER SERVING:
$
CALORIES:
135
FAT:
0 g
PROTEIN:
0 g
SODIUM:
16 mg
FIBER:
0 g
CARBOHYDRATES:
34 g
SUGAR:
33 g
2 cups water
1 cup unrefined cane sugar
1
⁄
4
cup freshly shredded ginger
Juice of
1
⁄
2
a lemon or lime
9 cups sparkling water
- Place the water and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. As soon as the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat and add in the shredded ginger. Cover and let sit until completely cool.
- When cool, strain out the ginger, stir in the lemon or lime juice, and then transfer syrup to an airtight container and keep refrigerated until ready to use, up to 2 weeks.
- Serve 1 part syrup to 3 parts sparkling water.
This recipe has all the flavor of cola, but is far lighter and much more refreshing than the store-bought original. It is thought that Coca-Cola’s original recipe was far lighter than the dark, syrupy version we have today, so perhaps this homemade version gives us a glimpse into what the inventor of cola had in mind. There are two difficult-to-find ingredients in this recipe, but you can definitely make the recipe without them. The bitter orange gives a hint of the flavor present in Coca-Cola, and kola nut provides caffeine. Earl Grey tea gives a hint of color to the soda and the bergamot mimics one of cola’s distinct flavors, neroli, but definitely stick to the amount recommended here, as the Earl Grey will easily take over the other flavors.
HANDS-ON:
30 minutes
INACTIVE:
1
1
⁄
2
hours
INACTIVE:
2 hours
DIFFICULTY LEVEL:
∗∗∗
YIELD:
Serves 6; Makes 5 cups syrup
COST PER SERVING:
$ $ $ $
CALORIES:
274
FAT:
0.5 g
PROTEIN:
0.3 g
SODIUM:
28 mg
FIBER:
1 g
CARBOHYDRATES:
69 g
SUGAR:
67 g
3 cups water
Orange zest from 4 large oranges
Lime zest from 4 limes
Lemon zest from 2 lemons
2 tablespoons dried bitter orange peel (optional)
1 tablespoon freshly grated gingerroot
1
⁄
2
teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons dried lavender flowers
2 tablespoons kola nut (optional)
2 tablespoons coriander seed
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
2 cups unrefined cane sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Lime juice from 2 limes
1
⁄
4
cup very strongly brewed Earl Grey tea, preferably double bergamot (optional)
1
⁄
2
teaspoon citric acid
20 cups sparkling water
- In a small saucepan, combine the water, zests, bitter orange, ginger, nutmeg, lavender, kola nut, coriander, cinnamon, and star anise. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; then remove from heat and let steep for 1 hour, covered.
- Strain through a cheesecloth; then return flavored water to a large saucepan and add sugar, making sure that there are at least 3 cups of flavored water (add plain water to make up the difference, if needed).
- Bring to a steady simmer and stir to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat as soon as the sugar is dissolved; then stir in the vanilla extract, lime juice, brewed tea, and citric acid. Let cool; then transfer syrup to an airtight container and keep refrigerated until ready to use, up to 2 weeks.
- Serve 1 part syrup to 4 parts sparkling water.