I’m making a ginger syrup today because it’s what we use to sweeten sun tea, but anything or nothing can be used in a simple syrup recipe.  Use it in anything that requires sweetening – beverages (hot or cold), baked goods and booze!

You will need:

whole ginger root
sugar (I use organic turbinado, but I’m just picky!)
water
pot, strainer & funnel

Roughly slice ginger; it doesn’t have to be even, as long as it’s fresh, not shriveled.

For the amount of ginger shown, I put four cups of water and slightly over one cup of sugar.  Since turbinado is a coarse grind, you need to add slightly more to equal a cup of white refined sugar.  It actually isn’t super-critical to measure exactly, so don’t worry!  I use Emeril cookware made by All-Clad and get their quality without the high sticker price.

Now it simmers over a low flame until concentrated to your taste or you run out of patience.  The more you concentrate, the less you’ll need to add to recipes.  And yes, do taste this periodically to see how sweet it is becoming.  At this point you can turn off the heat and come back later if you’re pressed for time; done it many a time.

When your syrup has concentrated to your taste, let it cool and transfer to a container using a strainer and funnel, then store in the refrigerator – I’ve left mine there for weeks while out of town.