Fennel frond syrup

Ingredients

1 large handful of fennel fronds: you can include the stalks

1 heaped tablespoon sugar

1 cup (approx 250ml) water

Directions

1. Rinse the fennel fronds.

2. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

3. Once the water has boiled, simmer for one minute, then remove from heat and allow to cool.

4. Once the liquid has cooled, remove the fennel and pour the remaining liquid into a bottle, straining out any stray fronds if necessary. Refrigerate. It will keep for a few weeks.

Uses

This adds a delightfully more-ish aniseed taste to anything. So far we've tried:

• Drinking it neat with ice, like an alcohol-free liqueur.

• Adding a dash to gin and tonic to bring out the aniseed taste of the gin.

• Adding it to water to make "grown-up squash".

What would you do with it?