Guinness Syrup Archives - HodgePodgeDays

I had my first freakshake in Manchester’s Northern Quarter a few years ago. It was an insane hybrid of a lovely milkshake and a lot of booze. They are quietly lethal and a bit of a treat. When I knocked up a lovely batch of Guinness syrup a little while ago, I knew it would be perfect to make a freakshake with, it has all the complex bitter, stouty flavours of Guinness, but in a sweet form which makes it perfect for cakes, bakes and freakshakes! Mixed up with some rum, you get an insanely good Guinness and Rum Freakshake.

To make your freakshake you will need a blender. I have a nutribullet which has sat gathering dust for a few months, and this is perfect for making freakshakes in. It’s not the healthiest use of a nutribullet, but it’s probably the best!

Recipe: Guinness and Rum Freakshake

This Guinness and Rum Freakshake is very loosely based on the Guinness Martini, which is made with dark rum, cold espresso coffee, vodka, crème de cacao and Guinness. This freakshake is really fun and absolutely not for children!

Guinness and Rum Freakshake

Ingredients:
3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
70ml (or two shots) of Guinness Syrup
70ml (or two shots) of dark rum
1 shot of espresso, cooled
250mls of milk
Squirty cream to decorate

Method:
Put it all of the ingredients in a blender and whiz up for a minute. Take a spoon and taste it, you can add more rum, Guinness syrup or coffee if you think you need to. Pour it into a glass and top with squirty cream and a drizzle of Guinness syrup.

Recipe: Guinness and Rum Freakshake

If you don’t have any espresso, you can swap this out for some instant coffee mixed with a shot of boiling water. Make sure you cool it before you add it to the Guinness and rum freakshake.

This recipe makes enough for one large Guinness and Rum Freakshake, if you’re making more than one, just double up the ingredients as necessary.

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Recipe: Guinness and Rum Freakshake

Why would you want to make Guinness syrup I hear you ask? My answer? Because it’s completely awesome, that’s why. This lovely syrup has a surprising number of uses; it’s pretty simple to make and it has all the complex bitter, stouty flavours of Guinness, but in a sweet form which makes it fabulous for puddings and cocktails.

I have many plans for my Guinness syrup, so do keep your eyes peeled for recipes in the coming weeks, but first, let’s make a batch ready to be drizzled over pancakes, stirred or shaken into cocktails and even baked into cakes.

Recipe: How to make Guinness Syrup

How to make guinness syrup

Ingredients:
500ml bottle of Guinness
500g of sugar

Method:
Tip your Guinness and sugar into an enamel pan or a preserving pan, stir carefully with a wooden spoon on a gentle simmer until the sugar has dissolved.

With the lid off the pan, and stirring frequently, gently simmer the liquid for at least an hour. I simmered my syrup for nearly 2 hours until it reached a thick pouring consistency, slightly looser than golden syrup. Depending what you need your Guinness syrup for, simmer it until it’s the syrupy consistency you need.

Make sure you have a couple of squeaky clean jars or bottles which have been sterilised ready for your syrup. To sterilise your jars, put your clean jars in a low oven for at least half an hour. Carefully remove your jars from the oven (they will be incredibly hot) and pour in your syrup. I suggest you use a jug and a funnel for this. Work quickly and carefully and get the lids on your jars while everything is still hot. Leave your syrup to cool overnight and it’ll be good to go in the morning.

How will use your Guinness syrup? I think it’s got so many possible uses, but drizzled over plain vanilla ice cream would be a pretty good start!