GINGERBREAD AND KORRELKONVYT G&T
When scaring myself up a winter cocktail on one of those chilly Cape Town evenings when you can hear the rain beating against the window, I often look to my favourite winter bakes for inspiration. I love the subtle, spicy heat of gingerbread, which I’ve had with a drizzle of korrelkonfyt on more than one occasion. If you don’t have any korrelkonfyt on hand (recipe available in JAN the Journal Volume 7), there’s nothing wrong with using a plain simple syrup instead.
Start by making your syrup infusion. Pour 250 ml korrelkonfyt syrup into a saucepan and heat to a simmer. Then, take off the heat and drop one cinnamon quill, one star anise, a generous slice of fresh ginger and 5 whole cloves in before letting it cool. When ready to make your cocktail, pour 30 ml gin, 100 ml tonic water, 30 ml Cointreau and 15 ml korrelkonfyt syrup infusion into a cocktail shaker and give it a gentle swirl (you don’t want to lose too much of the carbonation). Pour it into a glass filled with ice and garnish with cinnamon bark and star anise. The rest of your syrup infusion will keep for months if you store it in an airtight jar in the fridge.
How to get that gingerbread flavour
Classic gingerbread is usually flavoured with a combination of the spices, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves, although nutmeg wouldn’t be out of place. By infusing these spices into a syrup, you can lend almost any drink that unmistakable gingerbread flavour.