Joanne Chang’s Rum Simple Syrup Recipe

Joanne Chang is a Boston-based pastry chef and the co-owner of Flour Bakery. The award-winning pastry chef has a degree with honors in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Passionate about baking since her college days, Joanne left her consulting job to work in restaurants, eventually opening Flour Bakery in 2000. Since then, she expanded the bakery to eight more locations, opened a Taiwanese-inspired restaurant, won a reality TV cooking competition and a James Beard Award, and wrote five cookbooks.

Despite her long list of accolades, Joanne still delights in the alchemy of baking: simple ingredients that, when combined with the right techniques, transform into something magical. Learn to bake like a pro with Joanne Chang.

Rum syrup is a simple syrup flavored with rum. Simple syrup is a liquid sweetener made by cooking equal parts sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves. To make rum simple syrup, replace some of the water with the liquor and add complementary spices like cinnamon and cloves.

Jazz up a basic simple syrup recipe by swapping white sugar for brown sugar or using fresh lime juice or lemon juice instead of water to make lime or lemon simple syrup. Add aromatics like mint leaves or orange peel for more flavor.

Rum syrup can add depth and a tropical note to everything from chocolate cake to ginger beer. Here’s what you need to know to make the best version at home:

1. 1. Use your rum of choice. You can make rum syrup with light rum (white rum) or dark rum. (Here’s a guide to the different types of rum.) Remember that syrup made with light rum will have a more delicate flavor and color than syrup made with dark rum. The most important thing is that you like the flavor of the rum you choose—you’ll only use a little for the syrup, so the rest can go in your favorite Mojito or Daiquiri recipe. Here’s how to make a Mojito if you want to get started with rum cocktails.
2. 2. Choose a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When making simple syrup, choose a small saucepan with a heavy bottom. If you use a thin pan, you risk burning the sugar before it dissolves.
3. 3. Store in the fridge. Rum syrup can last up to one week, provided you store it properly in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Learn more about how to store simple syrup.
4. 4. Use it on cakes. Use rum syrup as a soaking syrup to flavor cakes and make them extra moist. Dip a pastry brush or clean paintbrush in the syrup, and carefully press it into the surface of your cake.