Ginger Cinnamon Pear Syrup

Flavored syrups are an amazing way to add a little something to a cocktail or mocktail. I'll be sharing cocktail recipes a little later today and one of the components of one of the drinks I'm mixing up is a pear syrup. It's really delicious but simple to assemble.

Ingredients [yields about ½ cup of syrup]:
½ cup water
¼ cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
knob of ginger
1 bartlett pear

The first step is to crush up a cinnamon stick. You don't need to be overly aggressive; otherwise, I'd suggest using ground cinnamon. You just want to break it up into smaller pieces.

Peel the skin off a piece of ginger.

Peel a pear and use a melon baller to scoop out the pear flesh into cute little balls. Be careful not to scoop too far into the pear; avoid the core.

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan and heat up over a low flame and bring to a gentle simmer. Throw in the pretty pear balls as well as any scrap pieces of pear as well. Cook the syrup for about 30 minutes, or until the pear is tender.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then, spoon out the pear balls into one bowl and the scrap-pieces of pear into a second bowl. Since the scrap pieces aren't quite as pretty, I say you can just eat them right now. They're yummy; you won't regret it.

Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve to get rid of the cinnamon pieces, ginger, and pulp.

Pour into a small container and keep in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.

Here's the recipe page: