Golden Vanilla Syrup

Make this lovely golden sauce in place of standard maple syrup.  Try it over pancakes, of course, or drizzle over your favorite vegan ice cream or a slice of cake.  The syrup would make a beautiful hostess gift; package with a bag of your favorite (vegan) pancake mix, or with a hand written note for a pancake recipe.  If you need an idea, check out the Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes on this blog.

Ingredients:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 cups vegan sugar
• 1 and 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice*
• 1 tablespoon vegan brown sugar

1. Combine all ingredients except the vanilla bean in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves as the mixture heats up.  Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

2. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds with a knife.  Add the seeds and the vanilla bean to the sugar mixture, stirring gently.  Cool to room temperature.

3. Transfer the syrup (and the vanilla bean) to a glass container.  Cover and chill.  The syrup will last up to 1 month in the fridge.

Here are just a couple of ways to try it: drizzled over vegan vanilla ice cream, which made the ice cream taste more like lemon gelato:

And over pancakes, where it was a lighter, subtler alternative to maple syrup, but perhaps not quite as indulgent:

*Strain the lemon juice through a fine-mesh sieve after you squeeze out your lemons, to get rid of any pulp and keep the syrup perfectly smooth.

Nutrition Info:
18 servings (2 tablespoons), Calories 89 

Tasting Notes:
I found the lemon flavor to be a bit overwhelming, and would decrease the amount of lemon juice next time.  And although it might sound sacrilegious in a recipe that relies on a beautiful whole vanilla bean, I would sneak in a little vanilla extract to enhance the vanilla flavor.  The syrup was not, therefore, quite what I was expecting, although still yummy.

Update: this syrup gets better with time.  After about a week, the lemon juice mellowed, and the vanilla flavor soared, at which point I enjoyed it more over pancakes and also slices of Amy's orange cake (available in the freezer section of the grocery store).  Another enjoyable use for the syrup - because of the bright lemon taste - is as a sweetener in iced tea. 

Rating:
3