Got extra candy canes? Then you can make this excellent pink peppermint syrup. It's delicious stirred into hot cocoa, coffee, and tea; drizzled over ice cream, cookies, and cupcakes; and splashed into Christmas cocktails.
And speaking of Christmas, as a little Christmas gift to you this week, I'm giving away Coffeehouse Mystery tote bag and autographed copies of my latest release Once Upon a Grind, now a bestselling hardcover from Penguin. More on the giveaway at the very end of this post...
Cleo Coyle has a partner in
crime-writing—her husband.
Learn about their books
by clicking here or here.
Whether you're new to the Coffeehouse Mystery series or have been reading them since the first book was published (circa 2003), my husband and I extend our sincerest thanks for supporting our work.
Enjoy the recipe, everyone, and have a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year!
~ Cleo
How to Turn Candy Canes
into Pink Peppermint Syrup
A recipe from...
Holiday Buzz:
A Coffeehouse Mystery
Click here to see the
book's free Recipe Guide.
This sweet potent syrup is delicious licked right off the spoon, but you may want to serve it over ice cream, drizzle it over sugar cookies, stir it into hot chocolate, or use it the way my amateur sleuth (Clare Cosi) does--to make delicious Candy Cane Lattes and Cappuccinos. Here's how to put your own leftover candy canes to good use...
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
8 large candy canes, broken up
Directions: Pour the water and sugar into a large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the candy cane pieces to the mix and continue stirring and heating. When the candy canes begin to melt, the mix will turn a milky pink. Keep cooking and stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil and continue stirring for 3–4 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken up. Test it by coating the back of a spoon (see my photos below). Remove from heat. Allow the syrup to cool in the pan before transferring to a storage jar or plastic bottle. To speed up the cooling process, I pop my plastic squeeze bottle into an ice water bath (or the freezer). Unused syrup should be stored in the refrigerator. When chilled, this peppermint syrup will thicken up quite a bit. To re-use, simply put the squeeze bottle or jar of syrup into a warm water bath or microwave for ten seconds.
F o o d i e
p h o t o s
Looking for a
Christmas-themed
mystery this week?
If you're looking for a Christmas-themed mystery this week, I can suggest two in my Coffeehouse series: In Holiday Buzz, coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi caters a glittering New York holiday party and finds the murdered body of a young baker's assistant, a crime that she vows to solve. In Holiday Grind a kindly sidewalk Santa is slain, and Clare is on the case, not only to find his killer but rekindle the meaning of Christmas...
May your
holidays be bright!
~ Cleo Coyle
New York Times bestselling author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries
Friend me on facebook here. * Follow me on twitter here.
Learn about our books here.
Now a Bestselling
Hardcover!
"Fresh and fun...clever" ~ Booklist
"Charming, vivid, memorable" ~ RT Book Reviews
"Wicked good" ~ Library Journal
Delicious recipes are also featured in my
14th culinary mystery, Once Upon a Grind, including...
* Black Forest Brownies * Cappuccino Blondies
* Shrimp Kiev * Dr. Pepper Glazed Chicken
* Silver Dollar Chocolate Chip Cookies
* "Fryer Tuck's" Ale-Battered Onion Rings
* Poor Man's Caviar * Caramel-Dipped Meltaways
...and many more recipes, including
a guide to reading coffee grinds...
See the book's
Recipe Guide (free PDF)
by clicking here.
* * *
Book and
Tote Bag Giveaway
Enter to win this custom-made Coffeehouse Mystery
tote bag and an autographed copy of Once Upon a Grind
by visiting my Christmas Week guest post at
Mason Canyon's Thoughts in Progress blog.
Simply leave a comment on the post over there,
and you are entered to win!
Click Here to visit.
See you there!
~ Cleo
More Christmas Giveaways!
If you are a subscriber to our Coffeehouse Mystery
newsletter, Marc and I invite you to enter more
holiday giveaways linked in our recently
sent newsletter.
If you are new to us and would like to subscribe
to our newsletter, click here. You will receive an
auto-reply with a link to our most recent editions.
Look inside for more holiday contests.
Thanks and good luck!
~ Cleo