Author: Nicole Harling – Culinary Cool
Ingredients:
Vanilla Orange Simple Syrup
-2/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (will require 2 large navel oranges)
-enough water to bring the juice up to 1 cup of liquid
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-strips of orange rind from one navel orange
-1 tsp Tribal Vanilla Bean Paste
French Soda:
-ice
-1 oz half and half cream
-1 ½ -2 oz Vanilla Orange Simple Syrup*
-6 oz sparkling water, such as Perrier
Directions:
Vanilla Orange Simple Syrup
1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the rind (just the orange parts) of one orange in thin strips.
2. Juice two large navel oranges into a measuring cup. You should end up with close to 2/3 cups of juice. Add enough water to fill the measuring cup to the 1 cup mark.
3. Pour into a small saucepan.
4. Add sugar, strips of orange rind and vanilla bean paste to the saucepan. Stir to combine.
5. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes.
6. Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl, and carefully pour in the syrup. Add 1-2 small strips of orange rind back into the syrup. Discard the rest.
7. Allow the syrup to cool completely, then remove the orange rind strips.
8. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
French Soda:
1. Fill a glass about halfway with ice.
2. Pour in half and half and the vanilla orange syrup.
3. Top with 6 oz of sparkling water.
4. Stir to combine.
5. Enjoy!
Notes:
*Once the syrup has cooled, the vanilla bean seeds will settle at the bottom of the bowl. Give it a good stir before using to re-incorporate the seeds.