Capture summer’s fragrant flavours with some easy-to-make botanical syrups

Late summer brings a flurry of foliage, flowers and fragrance into the garden. Nectar is plentiful and hedgerows begin to heave with hips and berries as the long evenings wear on and head towards autumn. It can seem like the warmest season is leaving all too soon but, with a little effort, the heady, perfumed moments can be made to last longer. How? By infusing, herbs, flowers and fruit in a home-made sugar syrup.

At their most basic, simple syrups contain just two ingredients – sugar and water. Combined in equal parts, the mixture is heated gently until the sugar dissolves and a clear liquid sweetener remains, which can be added to anything that needs a sugar hit (it’s also a great base for natural, fragrant ingredients). It’s long been used as a way to pep up cocktails (some recipes date back to the early 1800s), providing a sweet note without any undissolved sugary granules, and is also the base for many jellies and candies in the confectionery industry. Today, these sugar stews are still stirred into iced teas, cold-brew coffee and cocktails, and they’re also used to moisten cakes, drizzle over ice cream or to make sorbets and granitas.