How long does it take to make Sugar Syrup?

Sugar and water at 1:1 (a cup of sugar to a cup of water), boiled about 5 minutes, with lemon juice toward the end; a thicker 2:1 syrup for baklava.

6 minTotal

1 minActive time

5 minSetting

#	What to do	How long
1	Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer 5 minutes	5 min
2	Add the lemon juice	1 min

A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

The lemon keeps the sugar from crystallizing.
Over a hot cake or knafeh, pour cooled syrup, so the pastry soaks it up without getting soggy.
For lemon cake: lemon juice and sugar in roughly equal weight (80 ml juice to 80 g sugar), in a small pot over medium heat, until the sugar dissolves completely.