Pumpkin Spice Iced Toddy
Who needs Starbucks? You can have delicious PSL right at home with this idiot-proof recipe for Pumpkin Spice Syrup!
To be honest, I’ll still head to my neighborhood cafe for a cuppa, but only because I like to support the economy (AKA, I’m lazy). But this recipe looked too good to be true, and as a passionate and outspoken Pumpkin Everything lover, I had to see if it would actually work.
The original recipe came from Woman’s Day Magazine, and was sponsored by Splenda. So, naturally, it called for Splenda products. Because I’m not completely sold on Splenda, I made some adjustments, so I’ll point out how I made the recipe below. If you’d like to see the original, head over to Woman’s Day.
I will also point out now that I prefer a toddy, so I’ll also throw in how to make the cold brew coffee at home, for those of you feeling adventurous.
To start out, here is hardware you’ll need:
- A sauce pan (non-stick, if possible)
- A whisk
- A jar or container to keep the syrup in (I used a glass jar from pasta sauce)
- A funnel, or some other mechanism for getting syrup from point A to point B
- A french press (for the cold brew). If a french press is not available, you can use a large bowl or pitcher with something to strain the coffee grounds- a cheese cloth, or old t-shirt if you wanna get real crafty. More on that later.
And for the ingredients:
- 1 cup of pumpkin puree (if you’re buying from the store, try to avoid pre-made pumpkin pie mix- this has added spices and sugar)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar blend (I used Truvia- Splenda also has a brown sugar blend)
- 3-5 cinnamon sticks (called for 5, I used 3 and it had PLENTY of cinnamon flavor)
- 1 cup filtered water
- 1/4 cup Splenda sugar blend (it called for ONE WHOLE CUP of Splenda Sugar Blend. I cut that way down and it was definitely sweet enough)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract (try to use real vanilla, not imitation)
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped
- 1 tsp. whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
Directions for Pumpkin Spice Syrup:
- In your sauce pan, whisk all the ingredients together.
- Over medium-high heat, whisk ingredients until sweeteners have dissolved and your syrup is at a low boil. At this point I turned the heat to medium-low. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. The syrup will thicken as the liquid is boiled off.
- Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. The syrup will continue to thicken as it cools, so don’t wait too long to funnel the liquid into a jar. You’ll want to scoop out the cinnamon sticks, slices of ginger, and cloves before you put the liquid into your jar.
Directions for Cold Brew (Toddy):
If you have a french press, this is super easy: grind your coffee (or use already ground coffee) and place the grounds in the french press. Add COLD (very cold, and filtered, if possible) water into the container. Loosely set the lid on top, store in the refrigerator overnight.
If you do not have a french press: You’ll need a large bowl and a cheesecloth, or some other way to strain your coffee grounds (like a tshirt (below), or a thin dish towel. Make sure whatever you use is clean and has been rinsed). Line your bowl with the cheesecloth, add your coffee grounds, COLD (filtered, if possible) water, and set in the fridge overnight.
Tshirt cheesecloth method: cut a tshirt just below the arm holes so that all you have “Tshirt strainer”. Photo by Sarah Bredeman.
left is the back/stomach part. Gather the cut end together and wrap a rubber band around the bottom. At this point, it will look like a sort of tie-dye project. Flip it inside out, place it in your bowl, and add your grounds/water.
The next morning, strain your coffee (either push the french press lever down, or pull out your cheesecloth/tshirt strainer). You now have cold brew coffee!
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Toddy is best served as 1 part coffee (warning: it will be strong!) and 1 part milk. The great thing about Toddy is that it’s less acidic and bitter than coffee brewed traditionally. You could also make hot coffee and chill it, or pour over ice, but what you’ll get is a watered down/ bitter/ acidic tasting iced coffee. Toddy is smooth and creamy, even without milk or cream.
Add your Pumpkin Spice syrup to taste, stir, and enjoy!