Easy Homemade Golden Syrup For Mooncakes (Inverted Sugar Syrup)
Course: How To
Cuisine: Chinese
Cook Time: 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Total Time: 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Servings: 3cups
Author: Marvellina
Learn how to make easy homemade golden syrup. Sugar is slowly cooked and reduced/inverted into dark golden/amber color. Golden syrup is commonly used in Chinese desserts and pastries such as mooncakes.
800grgranulated white sugar4 cups, or use caster sugar/fine sugar
600mlwater2 1/2 cups
4slicesfresh lemon
Instructions
Cut the lemon into 4 thin slices. Place the sugar, water, and fresh lemon slices in a medium saucepan, preferably stainless steel or ceramic as they conduct heat more evenly but not too fast that it burns the sugar. Avoid aluminum and iron material
Cook until sugar dissolves on medium heat. Lower the heat to really low to simmer gently for the next 1 hour 30 minutes without stirring it. The sugary water will gradually change color to amber, almost like the color of honey. If you have a candy thermometer (I don't), you can make sure the temperature is between 110-115 C (230 F - 239 F)
Test for consistency: drop some of the syrup in a bowl of water. Use your finger to stir the syrup and if it melts or sort of dissolves, it's done cooking. If you can form a soft ball with it, you have gone a bit too far. Just add a bit more water to the syrup in the pan to "thin" it a bit and test again. The consistency would be close to a runny honey. You don't want to cook it as thick as honey because it will thicken further as it cools down
Transfer to a glass jar and let it cools down completely before sealing the lid. The syrup can be stored at room temperature for up to at least one year or beyond
Let the golden syrup "matures" for 2 weeks before using. The flavor gets better the longer it sits and consistency will be thicker
Simply soak the pot you use to cook the syrup in warm water for 10-15 minutes and the sticky sugar will dissolves and easy to be washed after that