Post #793634 by PalmtreePat on Thu, Mar 7, 2019 4:40 PM

So I decided to get weird with this second batch. Rather than going the spice tea route again, I decided to toast the butter a little bit, then cook the spices in the hot fat to "bloom" and hopefully bump the flavor up.

After busting up my spices (doubled up on cinnamon since the sticks I had this time were a little scrawny) I melted the butter in a saucepan and cooked it until it was starting to get that nutty smell. Not full on browning, just cooking it a little more than just melting.

Once it was ready I tossed in the spices and let them cook until very fragrant, probably no more than a minute. Once it cooled a bit I strained the spices and emulsified it with some ticaloid hydrated with plain water, then in went the honey and vanilla paste.

The syrup definitely benefits from the honey, and the spices are a little more in your face from having been essentially fried rather than just boiled. Using 150 grams of honey rather than 200 grams of sugar also seems to have given it a slightly looser consistency, and it doesn't thicken up so much that it falls in ribbons on a cold day anymore.