DIY: Homemade syrup

Today we are making pancake syrup! Maple syrup can be very expensive, but I've developed a really good imitation! The trick is to use piloncillo sugar. It's unrefined and gives the syrup that earthy, planty taste that most imitation maple syrups are lacking. I buy it at a local Asian/Ethnic market, and it can also be found at smaller Latin markets. If you can't find piloncillo (they look like little cones made of brown sugar), then brown sugar or raw sugar will work just fine!

What you'll need:
- 1 part water to 1 part piloncillo sugar
- Tablespoon Mapleine or Maple extract
- Some spoons, spatulas, etc.
- Sauce pot
- A small bowl
- Funnel
- Glass bottle (Old syrup bottles work well!)
- Kitchen timer

To start, let's put our little bowl in the freezer. We will use it to test the thickness of our syrup.

Now, over med-high heat, combine the water and sugar in the sauce pan. The sugar will start to dissolve pretty quickly, but stirring helps speed up the process.

Once the sugar is completely dissolved, turn the burner up to high and bring to a boil. I like to call this a "candy boil." It has a very distinct look, as seen in the above picture. The bubbles are relatively small, clear instead of frothy, and do not increase in volume.

Set the timer for 7 minutes. Stir occasionally.

After a couple minutes, take the bowl out of the freezer and spoon some syrup into it. Place back in the freezer. It should start to get thicker as it cools rapidly. When the timer goes off, take the pan off the burner and do another freezer test. If the syrup is not setting up, you need to boil it a little longer. If it doesn't need to boil longer, then set your timer for 10 minutes. This will allow for a little cool down before adding the flavoring.

It's important to not add the flavoring while the syrup is boiling. I find that most of the flavor evaporates at such high temperatures. Add the syrup when the timer goes off.

Now you can leave the syrup to cool for a little while. 15 to 30 minutes is enough time. Don't leave it too long, thought, or it will be harder to pour into the bottle. Take your funnel and carefully fill the bottle with the warm syrup. You can use your spatula to scrape down the sides.

I store mine in the fridge, but you probably don't have to as this is nothing but sugar and water.

Try it in yogurt, on pancakes and french toast, or even use it to sweeten your coffee!

Recipe: Sweet Potato Pancakes

I came up with these when I was in a comfort-food-mood, but didn't just want to end up eating cake and Pringles. I had some leftover mashed sweet potatos that were looking for a home and thought I would experiment (sweet potatoes make everything better, automatically). I substituted them for the oil called for in regular pancake recipes and added extra almond milk to make the batter a bit thinner.

Health Notes: These pancakes are low-fat and dairy-free! Another plus, since sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, this recipe doesn't call for as much sugar.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups almond milk 

1 egg

1/2 cup mashed sweet potato

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Coconut butter or cooking spray

Blueberries & banana, optional

1. Heat a frying pan on medium heat. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and almond milk. Stir in sweet potato and vanilla extract.

3. Add sweet potato mixture to dry ingredients. Stir just until combined.

4. Fold in blueberries.

5. Grease the frying pan. Drop batter using a ladle or big spoon. You can make the pancakes as big or as little as you want.

6. Serve with fruit and/or syrup. Bacon doesn't hurt, either :)