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Oleo Saccharum Recipe | An Easy Step-By-Step Guide on How to Make Oleo Saccharum

by corrie.pennington / February 1, 2021

Oleo Saccharum is a sweet citrus syrup that is produced when sugar and citrus peels are allowed to infuse for a short period of time. The sugar pulls the essential oils out of the peel, where all of the rich citrus flavor hides.

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The most commonly used oleo saccharum is made using lemon peels, but any citrus can be used. You could even do a mix of lemon, grapefruit, and orange. Oooh. That’s gonna be next on my list.

What do you do with oleo saccharum though? Oleo saccharum can be used in many cocktails and mocktails as both a sweetener and a burst of flavor. You can also use it to amp up homemade lemonade, in hot tea, or to boost the flavor of baked goods like lemon poppy seed muffins or lemon pound cake.

If you’re looking to use it in your mixed drinks, simply use it in place of traditional simple syrup in a cocktail recipe. Orange oleo saccharum is amazing in an Old Fashioned and a French 75 with lemon oleo saccharum gives the classic champagne cocktail and even bigger citrus boost. I’ve yet to try this idea myself, but I’ve heard that lime oleo saccharum is divine in a mojito.

Now that you know what it is and what you use it for, let’s learn how to make oleo saccharum.

Step-By-Step Guide for How to Make Oleo Saccharum

Note: As with all of my simple syrup recipes, I prefer to make smaller batches of oleo saccharum. This recipe will yield about 2-3 ounces, which is great for 3 cocktail recipes. Feel free to double the recipe for a larger batch.

Step One:

Wash 3-4 small lemons, scrubbing lighting. Usually, we don’t wash citrus but since we’re gonna be extracting all the goodness out of the peels, we want to make sure we aren’t extracting any yuckies, too.

Step Two:

Peel the lemons with a vegetable peeler, leaving behind as much of the white pith as possible. Leaving too much pith on the peels will make the oleo saccharum bitter. I used a paring knife to cut off some of the remaining pith on the peels but if your vegetable peeler is real sharp and your lemons are extra firm, you probably won’t need to do this.

Step Three:

Add the peels to a small bowl or mason jar. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of white sugar over the peels and give it a quick stir or shake to coat the peels with the sugar.

Step 4:

Let the peels sit for several hours. After a couple of hours, you’ll notice some oil being drawn out. You can wait anywhere from 3 hours to overnight for this process. The lemon peels were start to look dry and crispy.

For this particular batch, I waited overnight. You can use a muddler or the back of a spoon to really ramp up the oil extraction, too.

Step 5:

At this point, strain the liquid into a lidded container. Don’t toss the peels yet!

Step 6:

Add 1/4 cup of boiling water to the container with the lemon peels. This will pull the remainder of the oils out and dissolve any remaining sugar.

Step 7:

Strain the peels out and discard. Add the hot water to the lidded container that contains the concentrated syrup. Allow it to cool before storing in the fridge.

Oleo saccharum will taste its best within the first week but it will last up to a month in the fridge. Add a splash of vodka to it to extend the shelf life even more.

simple syrup

Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails | The Best Use for Leftover Cranberry Sauce

by corrie.pennington / November 23, 2020

If you have leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving, this cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails is the perfect use for it. It’s an easy syrup recipe made with red wine, cranberry sauce, turbinado sugar, cloves, and cinnamon.

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One of the best parts about Thanksgiving are the leftovers. But all the other leftovers run out long before the cranberry sauce does. Instead of tossing out that tart and sweet goodness, try using it in your cocktails.

You can definitely use it as is in a drink. Just sub it in for jam in a Jam Cocktail. Or take it up a notch and make this decadent cranberry red wine reduction. It’s sweet– very sweet– with amazing complexity and warmth to it. It tastes phenomenal with whiskey cocktails and also with gin. You could even use it in place of red wine in a New York Sour for added sweetness.

A cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails is the perfect use for leftover cranberry sauce. It's an easy syrup recipe made with red wine, cranberry sauce, turbinado sugar, cloves, and cinnamon.

Ingredients for a Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails

1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup cranberry sauce (whole or jellied)
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 cardamom pods

How to Make a Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the syrup has reduced. Pour into a small lidded container, using a strainer to strain out the spices and any cranberry pieces. You’ll need to press on the cranberries with the back of a spoon to really squeeze every drop of the reduction out. Let the syrup cool before storing in the fridge. The syrup should keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

Cranberry Red Wine Reduction for Cocktails

This cranberry red wine reduction syrup is perfect for using up that leftover cranberry sauce. It's delicious in whiskey cocktails, gin cocktails, and anything else you want to add depth and complexity to.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 15 mins

Course Drinks

Servings 3 ounces

Equipment

small saucepan

Ingredients

½ cup red wine (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon)
¼ cup cranberry sauce, whole or jellied
¼ cup turbinado sugar
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 cardamom pods

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the syrup has reduced.
Pour into a small lidded container, using a strainer to strain out the spices and any cranberry pieces. You'll need to press on the cranberries with the back of a spoon to really squeeze every drop of the reduction out.
Let the syrup cool before storing in the fridge. The syrup should keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

Keyword cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cranberry, cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails, cranberry sauce, red wine, red wine reduction, turbinado

what to do with leftover cranberry sauce - use leftover cranberry sauce in a cocktail by making this cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails.

simple syrup

Cinnamon Simple Syrup

by corrie.pennington / October 8, 2020

Cinnamon simple syrup is an easy way to add warmth and complexity to a cocktail. Try substituting it for traditional simple syrup in your favorite recipes and see how it subtly transforms an entire drink.

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If you’ve read any of my other simple syrup posts, you’ll know that I prefer to make small batches so that I can use them up before they go bad. Feel free to double this cinnamon simple syrup recipe.

Ingredients for Cinnamon Simple Syrup

1 cinnamon stick (these are a great deal)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

How to Make Cinnamon Simple Syrup

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and allow the syrup to cool for 20 minutes. Pour the syrup into a lidded container like a major jar. You can store it with or without the cinnamon stick. Storing it with the cinnamon stick will mean it infuses even more cinnamon flavor as it sits in the refrigerator. Store in the fridge; it should keep for 1-2 weeks.