Homemade Grenadine
Who knew you could make your own grenadine?!
In doing research for Podcast #3, I came across a drink recipe that called for grenadine and it gave a page number in the book to make your own!
And it is so simple!
Here it is courtesy of the book Gone with the Gin: Cocktails with a Hollywood Twist by Tim Federle:
2 cups bottled pomegranate juice
2 cups sugar
Boil bottled pomegranate juice and sugar in a medium saucepan. Stir for 5 minutes, until it’s reduced to half the original volume, into a syrup. Bottle and keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
There you go. Between this recipe and the Simple Syrup one (a previous post), you will be well on your way to having a well-stocked bar anytime you need it.
Again, you are welcome.
-Kelley
Hey all! For podcast ep 3, Kelley and I each made at least one of the ingredients we used for our drink recs. Above is Kelley’s post for grenadine, and previously she posted about simple syrup. I’m gonna talk to you about gin.
Kidding. I did not make my own gin. I made sugar cubes.
Sugar cubes *sounded* easy, according to the multitude of sites I found online, but it turns out, you need to treat them with care. I started with ¼ cup of sugar, because I only needed a few cubes, and added 3 teaspoons of water. That was too much; I’m no baker and this is why, but I think with just that much sugar 1-1.5 tsps would have been enough. I was looking for a sugar + water paste and what I got was a slurry-like substance. But, I made it work. The sugar didn’t dissolve and I think that’s probably the most important part.
Anyway, I put mine in a silicone baking tray intended for mini brownies, but candy molds will work. You can also put the sugar + water paste in a square baking dish, but be sure to cut or score the mixture before drying it. I put mine in a 250 degree F oven for 60 minutes. You want to dry out the mixture. You can also just leave them out overnight, but it was very humid here today and I did not think that was going to work. Once hardened, break or cut up and store the cubes in an airtight container. Honestly, mine looked a little bit like dishwasher detergent tabs…? But they’ll work in coffee, tea, or the “Cocktail of Two Cities” from Tequila Mockingbird by Tim Federle. Good luck, if you give making them a try!
-Jaclyn