Ginger Syrup

(about 1 pint)

I love ginger-ale, but it has a lot of sugar in it. I have never been fond of "diet" soda. I'd rather they cut the amount of sugar in half than replacing it with something artificial. I've tried Stevia, but I don't care for that either.

This week I decided to try making my own syrup to combine with sparkling water. I was very happy with the result.The syrup was very gingery with a nice touch of lemon.



1/3 lb fresh ginger
1 large lemon
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar

Peel the ginger and cut it up. Remove the rind from the lemon taking care not to get any of the white bitter pith. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and place that into a non reactive (such as stainless steel) saucepan.

Place both the ginger and lemon rind into the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times until the mixture is finely chopped taking care not to over-process into a paste.

Add the ginger mixture to the lemon juice in the saucepan. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 5 -7 minutes.

Turn off the heat and cover the saucepan. Leave at room temperature overnight.

The next day strain the mixture through a cheesecloth, squeezing it to extract as much juice as possible. Return the liquid to the saucepan and add the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 3-5 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool. Keep refrigerated.

Add 1 tablespoon, or to taste to a glass of mineral or plain soda water.