As I was making apple pies (yes, pies), I realized I’m leaving behind almost 10% of each apple in core and peel. I had to use it in some way.
After searching and trying a recipe, I found a good use for the leftovers of apples.
Actually, I was aiming for something else. The recipe I was trying here was of apple jelly but it failed. The jelly refused to set. Still, I kept boiling it until I gave up and turned off the heat. I scooped some into a jar and left it to cool…..and set….but it never did. I bottled the rest of the amount and decided to call it apple syrup.
I used this syrup in making cold drinks by diluting it with water and adding some ice cubes. While I was sick earlier this week, I decided to give it another spin and make a warm drink out of it and use whatever I had within reach and what –in my limited knowledge– I felt would be helping in getting rid of the flu faster. I made a delicious drink (method below) that was sweet with hints of fruits and spices. I’ll make myself some more now and sip some slowly.
This recipe should go hand in hand with this apple pie recipe. I get to brag (shut up, I’m gonna brag) that I feel better that I wasted less, was environment friendly and economical. I can disregard the failed recipes that went straight to the garbage bin. Can you forget about them too? You know nothing, OK?
Try this syrup and let me know how you’d like it. Share with me in the comments how you’d might use it.
P.S. In the photos of the glass, I added a drop of red food coloring to give it an appealing color. The pitcher had the natural color you get from the apples. In the bottle to the left is the color of the concentrated syrup.
And Olly makes another appearance here as the nosy neighbor who wants to figure out what is happening around her area.
Apple Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
- Cores and skin of apples
- Water
- Sugar
- Cloves
- Cinnamon sticks
Procedure
- In a large pot, cover the skin, cores, few cloves and cinnamon sticks with water and bring to a boil
- Reduce and simmer for 20 minutes
- Drain discarding the apple peel and cores
- Measure the liquid and add sugar to the ratio 2 cup water – 1 cup sugar
- Return to the pot with the cloves and cinnamon and simmer for 30-40 minutes
- Cool and bottle
Uses:
Cold drink:
Pour a few tablespoons of the syrup in a cup, top with cold flat or sparkling water, stir and serve with ice cube. Adjust to your taste. Multiply the amount and make it in a pitcher.
Hot drink: (suggestion)
Add a couple of tablespoons of syrup to a kettle with 2 cloves, fresh ginger knob, cinnamon and green tea leaves and top with water. Boil for few minutes and serve.
Cook in Five Square Meters 
ooh, fun 😀
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I could use this syrup over my pancakes too!
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That could work. The apple-cloves-cinnamon fusion would be perfect if warmed a bit. I shall try it 🙂
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Great idea, using apples leftovers 🙂
If you want the result to be firmer (jelly like), make sure you use underripe apples, as they have high pectin content. Also, it would seem that commercial apples don’t have much pectin in them, so maybe organic is a better bet.
And about your remedy, sorry to burst your bubble, but anything that contains sugar simply cannot help your body with sickness in any possible way. It probably gave you that impression because of the sugar rush, first couple of hours 😉
And then boiling the juice drastically reduces all the vitamins and goodness it initially had. So you were basically having apple flavored sugar water, which you could also call “tasty placebo remedy”.
But the spices, on the other hand, ARE a good addition, and may indeed help fighting off infections or reduce inflammation. So well done there 😉
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Haha. It’s funny how I just completely ruined it with things, yet balanced it out with other additions.
BTW, the apples were the ones I picked from the tree myself. I’m not sure though how organic are they, but they ripened at home before I used them in the pie. Maybe they lost their pectin?
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I agree sugar cannot possibly be healthy in a time of sickness. Foods are typicaly healthier when they are cooked less and left in the way god made them. Thank you Hisham! 😁 Read nourishing traditions such a good book about health!
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Thank you Hannah. Will do ❤️
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Hi,
Just did this today. I turned out great. Instead of making it from the apple spice angle, I instead made the peel infusion with elderflower and natrual distilled almond extract, and finished the syrup with a splash of vermouth + ascorbic acid for color/shelf life before bottling. Since I used crabapple it has a bitter edge but only just enough to add complexity.
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I know it’s been years since you posted but I’m hoping you’ll still answer my question…. How do you store it? Can I just bottle it in an old glass bottle and keep it in the shelf? Do I have to refrigerate it? I made two 1L bottles and want to know how to store it. Please! Thank you!
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Hello!
Thank you so much for using the recipe and leaving a comment
If the syrup is thick enough, it means it had enough sugar and it was boiled enough to evaporate most of the water out
So it should be safe to store at room temperature.
You can try if you like leaving a small jar of the syrup on the counter and the rest in the fridge
Leave it for some time and see if your batch would get moldy or it’s safe to store on the shelf
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I made your apple syrup last fall, 2020. Retired and Covid and experimenting was good for lots of kitchen fun. I never did use it as a waffle/pancake syrup, maybe this year when I make more. I used it as a breakfast juice or, drum roll please; apple syrup + vodka + 1/2 & 1/2. A great evening sipping drink! Give it a try; like Mikey, I think you’ll like it 😋
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Oh wow, I am sure it is incredible with vodka.
I actually infused apple cores and skins in vodka and cinnamon. It tasted INCREDIBLE. Try it too
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