Home accessories: Sugar Rush: How to Make Flavored Sugar and More

"Joy is a glassful of tea and a piece of sugar in the mouth."

--unknown

Sugar was on my mind when I made Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes.
As I assembled the ingredients, I couldn't find green sugar sprinkles. How was I supposed to make cupcakes for an early St. Patrick's celebration without sprinkles?

My mother had the solution. "Make your own!"

So that's exactly what I did. But I didn't stop at green.

I was overcome by a sugar rush, and I ended up with a wide array of sweet things to put on my cupcakes--and also in my iced tea.

How to Make Colored (and Flavored) Sugar

Start with sugar, food coloring, and plastic bags.

My grocery sells several types of sugar. If you like large granules, look for sugar in the raw or Demerara. You'll also need white granulated sugar because some food coloring, such as yellow and blue, doesn't take kindly to the darker Demerara.

Place each type of sugar in a plastic bag.

Add a small quantity of food coloring to a bag--I started with four drops.

Seal the bag and shake.

And shake. Knead the clumps and continue shaking. If you need more color, add 1 or 2 drops of food dye at a time and keep shaking.

Let the sugar dry for an hour.

My experiments had positive and negative outcomes. Below, I mixed raw sugar with yellow food dye, then I added orange zest. The positive result: orange flavored sugar.

Next, I added yellow food coloring to white sugar and mixed in lemon zest.

The result was pastel yellow, with a sweet, alluring aroma. I can't wait to add lemon sugar to iced tea.

When I added green food coloring to raw sugar, the results were mixed--I had to add more and more dye to achieve the proper shade of green.

I mixed the sugars, added about 10 drops of green food coloring, and shook the bag like mad.

Finally, I ended up with sugar that could be served at The Emerald City Cafe in Oz.

My cupcakes were saved by Mama and McCormick's food coloring.

Just a reminder..if you want to make pink and blue sugar, I recommend using white granulated.

The darker sugars turn reds and blues into a muddy mess.

A quick step-by-step:

Flavored sugars add a punch to desserts and beverages. Imagine stirring a spoonful of orange sugar into a cup of hot tea--ambrosial. What about adding lemon sugar the next time you make lemon meringue pie? Lime sugar will transform your key lime pie. Place a vanilla bean in sugar (look for an upcoming post about the versatility of vanilla beans), and you will get rave reviews on your cooking.

Wasn't that fun? And so easy. An exhausted cook can shake a bag of sugar while she watches TV.

Making your own colored/flavored sugar is an easy, economical way to garnish cupcakes, sweeten your tea, and boost the flavor of any dessert. If you'd like to skip the food coloring, you can add zest or vanilla beans to sugar.
I keep vanilla sugar in a sealed glass jar. I also add zest to brandy.
Like my mother says, "Never miss an opportunity to ramp up flavor."

Try an experiment today. Pour sugar into a bowl. Add the zest of one lemon (if you like lemony things). Stir. Come back in five minutes.
You'll be greeted by sweet-smelling culinary magic.