Making simple syrup is ridiculously easy — boil sugar and water — but most cocktail formulas call for only a spoonful. Do I really want to wash a pot just to have a splash of plain liquified sugar? I ...

The secret ingredient in many professional layer cakes and a kind of magic to the home baker is called simple syrup and it’s precisely that: a syrup made simply of equal parts water and sugar.

In a cocktail shaker, combine the syrup, cognac and cream. Fill with ice. Shake, then strain into a tall glass. Top with club soda or seltzer.

Bourbon Cocktail Book. The Classics left to right: Whiskey Sour, Manhattan, (in back), Old Fashioned (in foreground) and John Collins, right. Pam Spaulding Simple syrup should be a staple in every ...