It’s starting to feel autumnal out there, and what better way to warm up than with a cup of your favourite coffee, liberally laced with seasonal homemade hazelnut syrup? If you’ve got some syrup left over, it makes a great dessert sauce or cooking ingredient.
If you’re lucky enough to know someone with a hazelnut tree, this is the time to get on their right side! For this recipe, you’ll need a good double handful of hazelnuts, shelled.
Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan on a medium-high heat, and add a double handful of hazelnuts (around 300 – 400g). Shake the pan occasionally so that the nuts toast evening and don’t burn. Continue until they’re a uniform pale golden colour, then remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.
Once cool, put the nuts in a food processor and blitz until roughly chopped (don’t chop them too much, you’re aiming for whole nut pieces rather than a powder).
Put 500g of sugar and 500ml of water into a pan, and heat gently until the sugar is fully dissolved. Add the nuts, and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and let it cook for around 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it’s not sticking.
In the meantime, sterilise a glass bottle or jar with a close fitting lid by placing into a pan of water and bringing to the boil. Strain the syrup into the bottle. Once completely cool and sealed, store in the refrigerator for up to a month.
If you like the idea of hazelnut syrup but don’t have time to make your own, we stock a full range of readymade coffee syrups, including hazelnut, for only £7.29 a litre. For more information, visit our coffee ingredients page.
This recipe was inspired by Homemade Hazelnut Syrup from www.fiveeurofood.com.
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