Caramel Syrup

caramel syrup recipe:

2 cups of water
1 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup of corn syrup

This can be DANGEROUS so watch out! start with 1 cup of water, 1 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of corn syrup. use a stainless steel pot. This will be very important because you need to be able to see the sugar change colors, so a black pan WILL NOT WORK! Turn on the heat to high-medium (7-8). When the water starts to boil, cover the pot for 2 minutes (this will wash the sides of the pot with the steam. you want to make sure there are no sugar bits on the sides of the pot.) After this, you will boil for another 10-15 minutes. During this part do not stir at all. This will cause big issues later if you do. and anyway, it's boiling so much, this will basically mix the water and sugar for you. Be sure to watch this because it will happen quickly. The color of the water/sugar will change form a light gold to a deep amber red quite quickly. Don't let it get too dark! When it's that nice deep glowing amber red, remove immediately from the heat. At this point you will quickly add 1 more cup of water. BE CAREFUL! When you do this, a volcanic reaction will happen so watch out because this is EXTREMELY HOT! You'll want to cover the pot right away after you add the cup of water. After a couple of minutes when the sputtering and craziness dies down, you can take the cover off the pot, and begin to stir in the caramel and water. You'll want to make sure you get a nice consistent color through out. And basically THAT IS IT! Once you've finished stirring, let it sit for about an hour so it cools down thoroughly. Then bottle it and store it in the fridge :-)

Thanksgiving Cocktail #1

This is a cocktail I made for the holiday. Combines a few of the flavors we all know and love.

2 ounces rye whiskey (I used Jefferson 10 year)
3/4 ounce fresh cranberry juice (if you use store bought, it must be 100% NO SUGAR ADDED!)
1/2 ounce caramel syrup
1/4 ounce praline pecan liqueur

shake and strain.

For the caramel syrup recipe see my post on caramel syrup! If you click on the caramel syrup tag it should show up (along with other delicious recipes that call for caramel syrup.)