Thickened Syrups

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart heavy, nonreactive saucepan
• •Balloon whisk
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Two clean 1-quart jars
• •Natural-bristle pastry brush
• •Syrup hydrometer marked in degrees Baumé, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Weigh the syrup

   Set aside 1 cup (240 ml) of the cold water. Combine the remaining water and the sugar in a heavy, nonreactive saucepan. Warm gently, stirring only until every crystal dissolves, then let the clear syrup just reach a simmer and skim away any foam. Do not reduce it. Once the reserved water returns in the arrowroot slurry, these weights reproduce syrup at approximately 15° Baumé without requiring a hydrometer.

   If you do use a syrup hydrometer, test a cooled sample at the instrument's calibration temperature. A reading taken from hot syrup will mislead you.
2. 2

   Mix the slurry

   Whisk the ⅓ cup arrowroot into the reserved cold water until perfectly smooth, keeping the extra 2 teaspoons dry for adjustment. Arrowroot sinks quickly, so make the slurry only when the syrup is ready and expect to whisk it again before pouring. If you see stubborn beads now, pass the slurry through a fine sieve; they will not improve in the saucepan.

3. 3

   Thicken very briefly

   Bring the syrup back to the barest simmer. Whisk the slurry smooth once more, then pour it into the syrup in a thin stream while whisking steadily. Heat for 45 to 60 seconds, only until the cloudiness clears and the syrup reaches nappage, a thin spoon-coating consistency. Do not keep it boiling, because arrowroot loses body under prolonged heat. If lumps appear, remove the pan from the heat and strain the syrup. Ça se rattrape. If it remains thin, mix the reserved arrowroot with 1 tablespoon of cold water, whisk it in, and heat only until clear; if it is too thick, loosen it with hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

4. 4

   Cool the base

   Pour the neutral syrup into a wide clean bowl or divide it between two clean 1-quart jars. Let it cool for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent a skin, then use it or refrigerate it. Keeping the batch neutral is the honest home arrangement: one base can become several glazes without committing two quarts to one colour or aroma.

5. 5

   Colour and flavour

   Measure only the syrup needed for the pastries in front of you. For each 1 cup (240 ml), add liquid colouring one drop at a time until it suits the tartlet, then stir in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) liqueur or ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon (0.6 to 1.25 ml) culinary essence. Taste before adding more. The flavouring goes in off the heat and at the last moment, exactly as the method requires; boiling afterward drives away the aroma and can thin the glaze.

6. 6

   Glaze with restraint

   Brush one thin film of the sirops liés over completely cooled flans or tartlets while the glaze is fluid at room temperature or barely warm. One pass should leave shine without a puddle. If excess gathers in the pastry's hollows, draw it back with the brush before it sets. Leave the coating for 10 minutes, just long enough to settle into a clear, supple veil. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Arrowroot is the point here. Flour makes the glaze cloudy and pasty, while cornstarch gives a duller, more opaque coat. Buy true arrowroot starch and keep the heating brief.
• •The measured sugar and water produce approximately 15° Baumé syrup once combined. Use the weights if you can; they are the simplest home equivalent of the pastry kitchen's prepared syrup vat and hydrometer.
• •Match the aroma to the pastry without burying it: kirsch for cherry, orange liqueur for citrus, rum for custard, or a few drops of vanilla or almond essence. The syrup should introduce the flavour, not announce itself from across the room.
• •Colour with a timid hand. The glaze must still look transparent on the brush; a tartlet needs a gleam, not stage paint.
• •Liqueur added off the heat retains its alcohol. Where that is unsuitable, use an alcohol-free culinary essence and add it just as sparingly.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the neutral, uncoloured base up to five days ahead. Refrigerate it in clean covered jars, then whisk it smooth before measuring the portion you need.
• •If the chilled syrup becomes too firm, warm it gently over low heat and loosen it with a spoonful of water. Never give it a prolonged boil.
• •Colour and flavour only the portion required, and do so immediately before glazing. This preserves the liqueur or essence and lets one economical batch serve several kinds of pastry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 35g)