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Last spring Nora gave us a nice round-up of rhubarb cocktails using rhubarb syrup. Here's a take on her recipe, with a few variations and suggestions following.

Rhubarb Syrup

4 C chopped rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Combine everything in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook gently until the fruit is soft and the liquid has thickened slightly, about 20 minutes. Ladle into a fine strainer (or a coarse strainer lined with cheesecloth) that has been placed over a large bowl. Strain until most of the liquid is in the bowl. Give a little press on the solids with a spoon to extract more syrup.

Carefully pour the syrup into a clean bottle, cover or cork the bottle and refrigerate. It should keep for quite some time in the fridge. The solids make a nice rough jam, so if you want you can put them in a clean jar and keep them in your refrigerator for a week or so. It's great on toast!

Variations:

• Add a few coins of ginger or a few large pieces of orange peel to the rhubarb at the start of the cooking time.


• Towards the end of the simmering time, add a small handful of rough chopped basil, or several sprigs of thyme.


• Stir in a few teaspoons of rose water or orange flower water.

Fun and delicious uses for rhubarb syrup:

• Mix with club soda to make a refreshing drink: about one part syrup to 3 parts club soda. Serve over ice, garnished with a lime wedge.
• Rhubarb bellinis! A simple recipe of about one part syrup to 4 parts sparkling wine, Champagne or prosecco.
• Rhubarb Mojito from Brooklyn Farmhouse.
• Drizzle over plain or vanilla yogurt or vanilla ice cream. Or poke holes in a plain vanilla or lemon cake with a skewer and pour the syrup over until it soaks in

Related: Rhubarb Basil Cocktail

(Image: Dana Velden)