Make homemade orgeat syrup with almonds, sugar, and orange flower water! It’s an important ingredient in many Tiki cocktails, especially the Mai Tai.
Sure, you can buy pre-made orgeat syrup and it’s decent, but we promise it’s so easy to make your own at home. A classic Tiki cocktail ingredient, our homemade orgeat syrup is thicker and creamier than anything you can buy in a store!
Ingredients
- almonds, raw or blanched, with or without skins
- water
- sugar
- cognac
- orange blossom water
Method
Begin by making the almond milk. Soak the almonds in enough water to completely cover them. Let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then rinse and drain, discarding the water.
If using almonds with skins, remove after soaking. The skins should slip off easily! Removing the almond skins is not essential, however, we prefer the look of it. You can also use pre-blanched almonds if you prefer.
Add the soaked almonds to a blender along with the water. Purée for a few minutes, until the almonds are smooth.
If your blender isn’t high-powered we recommend soaking the nuts longer for easier blending.
Drain the puréed almond-water mixture through a nut milk bag, squeezing out as much of the almond milk as you can. Set the almond pulp aside for another use if you like.
Combine the almond milk with the sugar in a pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then stir in the cognac and orange blossom water. Start with ½ teaspoon of orange blossom water. Add more to taste as needed, up to 1 teaspoon.
Once the orgeat is at room temperature, store it in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
Tips & Notes
You can use any almonds you like – with or without skin, raw or blanched.
You don’t have to remove the skins from almonds if you don’t want to. We just think it looks nicer.
To make the almonds easier to blend, soak them longer in the water, up to 12 hours.
The ratio of almonds to water in this recipe is high. The result is more like almond cream than milk.
You can make homemade orgeat syrup alcohol-free simply by omitting the cognac, however, the syrup will only last 4 to 5 days without the alcohol.
Orange blossom water is an essential ingredient in homemade orgeat syrup. You should be able to find it easily in most specialty, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern grocery stores.
Substitutions
Good substitutes for a nut milk bag are a couple layers of cheesecloth bundled together at the top like a small sack, or the leg of a pair of new, clean, unused pantyhose cut-off at the knee. A clean tea towel will also work in a pinch!
If you don’t have cognac, vodka is a good replacement.
Other Uses For Homemade Orgeat Syrup
Orgeat syrup is great drizzled on ice cream, or over fresh summer fruit. Peaches and plums are especially good as they both belong to the same genus as almonds! It’s also good on pancakes, waffles, or pound cake. Basically use it anywhere you like a touch of added flavour and sweetness.
More Tasty Cocktail Syrups
Strawberry Ginger Simple Syrup
If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.
Recipe
Homemade Orgeat Syrup
Description
Equipment
- Nut milk bag
- Blender
- Small saucepan
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 2 cups almonds, raw or blanched, with or without skins
- 4 cups water
- 3 cups sugar
- ⅓ cup cognac
- ½ to 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
Instructions
- Being by making the almond milk.
- Soak the almonds in enough water to completely cover them. Let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then rinse and drain, discarding the water.
- If using almonds with skins, remove after soaking. The skins should slip off easily!
- Add the soaked almonds to a blender with the water. Purée until smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Drain the almond mixture through a nut milk bag, squeezing out as much of the almond milk as you can. Set the almond pulp aside for another use if you like.
- Combine the almond milk and sugar in a pot. Bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
- Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then stir in the cognac and orange blossom water.
- Start with ½ teaspoon of orange blossom water and add more to taste as needed, up to 1 teaspoon.
- Once the orgeat is at room temperature, store it in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
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