Homemade orange syrup is an extremely easy and also rather quick preparation. We can use it to create exquisite flat or sparkling beverages; or cake soaks and ice cream toppings. With this very simple recipe, we can create sparkling orange drinks as good as those available commercially but without dyes, without preservatives, and with real orange juice to amaze and delight our children and guests; or we can use it in ice creams, in aperitifs, cocktails, etc…
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 2 qt
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Winter
Ingredients
- 4 1/4 cups Orange juice (fresh)
- 2.2 lbs Sugar
- 2 Lemons
- to taste Orange and lemon zest
Preparation
Peel 1 orange and 1 lemon, being careful not to cut the inner white part of the peel because it’s bitter.
Squeeze the juice from the two lemons and add it to the 4 1/4 cups of fresh orange juice. Strain it to remove the pulp.
In a large pot, put the sugar, the juice, and the citrus zest. Stir with a wooden spoon, place on the smallest burner over low heat.
Stirring often, bring to a boil and let it boil for 5 minutes. Turn off immediately and pour into juice bottles or two already sterilized 1-liter bottles, seal tightly, and proceed to sterilization.
In already boiling water, place the bottles and from the first boil, let them boil and sterilize for 30 minutes. Turn off and let cool completely before removing the bottles from the pot; our orange syrup is ready to use. Once opened, the syrup must be stored in the fridge.
To prevent the bottles from breaking by hitting each other during the sterilization phase, wrap them individually in kitchen towels.
For sparkling orange soda
Portion for a water glass
1.35 oz of orange syrup
4 oz of tonic water
or
3.4 oz of sparkling water
Pour the syrup into a glass and dilute with sparkling water or tonic water, stir and serve. My favorite version is with tonic water. Try both and decide which one is yours.
For cake soaks the syrup should be diluted with enough water, depending on the intensity of the orange flavor you want to achieve.
