Let's talk sugar. It's essential for good baking. I think one of the reasons I like freshly fallen snow is because it looks like the lawn is covered in sugar. That's a happy thought!
Flavored sugars can boost your baked goods to an even greater flavor. I decided, what with Christmas baking around the corner, I needed to replenish my stock of flavored sugars. So I made up three different flavors this morning: vanilla sugar, orange sugar and lemon sugar. (I had wanted to make up some lavendar sugar, but I think I delayed too long and my friendly neighborhood supply of lavendar has likely been buried in snow. Sigh.)
Vanilla sugar simply deepens the flavors of most baked sweets. I particularly like to use it when I make my favorite Honey Vanilla Challah bread.
I have a delightful recipe for Orange Berry Muffins. I like to use Orange sugar to increase the orange flavoring in those. I also have a recipe for a Chocolate Orange Bundt cake that tastes just like those Chocolate Oranges they sell at Christmastime. (You know the ones -- you bang them against the table before you unwrap them and the chocolate breaks apart in "slices" shaped just like orange slices.) Well, using Orange sugar instead of regular sugar in that recipe brings out the subtle orange flavor that is hiding just behind the chocolate.
Lemon sugar can be used in any baking recipe that calls for lemon zest. I particularly like to use it in when I make sugar cookie dough.
So, here are my flavored sugar recipes. Easy peasy. I snapped the photo above so you could wonder what kind of weird science experiments I was doing on my back porch. Said jars have now been shaken and set in the pantry. Six days from now, boy oh boy, we're gonna have some yummy sugary stuff goin' on here at the Pastry Shop.
Vanilla Sugar (muliply measurements as needed)
2 C granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut in half, split open and seeds scraped
Place the sugar in an airtight container. (Sometimes I use ziplock bags, other times I use canning jars.) Scrape the seeds directly into the sugar. Stir to combine well. Then place the pod halves in the sugar. Shake to combine. Let sit 5-6 days, shaking the container at least once each day.
Orange Sugar (ditto regarding measurement multiplication)
2 C granulated sugar
zest of 2 oranges (be careful not to include the white pithy stuff - yuck!)
Combine all together in an airtight container and shake well. Let sit 4-5 days, shaking container at least once a day. Using a sieve or sifter, pour sugar through sieve and into an airtight container. Discard orange zest caught in sieve.
Lemon Sugar (double ditto regarding measurement multiplication)
2 C granulated sugar
zest of 3 lemons (same advice regarding bitter, icky pithy stuff)
Combine all together in an airtight container and shake well. Let sit 4-5 days, shaking container at least once a day. Using a sieve or sifter, pour sugar through sieve and into an airtight container. Discard lemon zest caught in sieve.
Flavored sugars can boost your baked goods to an even greater flavor. I decided, what with Christmas baking around the corner, I needed to replenish my stock of flavored sugars. So I made up three different flavors this morning: vanilla sugar, orange sugar and lemon sugar. (I had wanted to make up some lavendar sugar, but I think I delayed too long and my friendly neighborhood supply of lavendar has likely been buried in snow. Sigh.)
Vanilla sugar simply deepens the flavors of most baked sweets. I particularly like to use it when I make my favorite Honey Vanilla Challah bread.
I have a delightful recipe for Orange Berry Muffins. I like to use Orange sugar to increase the orange flavoring in those. I also have a recipe for a Chocolate Orange Bundt cake that tastes just like those Chocolate Oranges they sell at Christmastime. (You know the ones -- you bang them against the table before you unwrap them and the chocolate breaks apart in "slices" shaped just like orange slices.) Well, using Orange sugar instead of regular sugar in that recipe brings out the subtle orange flavor that is hiding just behind the chocolate.
Lemon sugar can be used in any baking recipe that calls for lemon zest. I particularly like to use it in when I make sugar cookie dough.
So, here are my flavored sugar recipes. Easy peasy. I snapped the photo above so you could wonder what kind of weird science experiments I was doing on my back porch. Said jars have now been shaken and set in the pantry. Six days from now, boy oh boy, we're gonna have some yummy sugary stuff goin' on here at the Pastry Shop.
Vanilla Sugar (muliply measurements as needed)
2 C granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut in half, split open and seeds scraped
Place the sugar in an airtight container. (Sometimes I use ziplock bags, other times I use canning jars.) Scrape the seeds directly into the sugar. Stir to combine well. Then place the pod halves in the sugar. Shake to combine. Let sit 5-6 days, shaking the container at least once each day.
Orange Sugar (ditto regarding measurement multiplication)
2 C granulated sugar
zest of 2 oranges (be careful not to include the white pithy stuff - yuck!)
Combine all together in an airtight container and shake well. Let sit 4-5 days, shaking container at least once a day. Using a sieve or sifter, pour sugar through sieve and into an airtight container. Discard orange zest caught in sieve.
Lemon Sugar (double ditto regarding measurement multiplication)
2 C granulated sugar
zest of 3 lemons (same advice regarding bitter, icky pithy stuff)
Combine all together in an airtight container and shake well. Let sit 4-5 days, shaking container at least once a day. Using a sieve or sifter, pour sugar through sieve and into an airtight container. Discard lemon zest caught in sieve.
***Disclaimer: There are a lot of ways to prepare citrus sugars. Some people actually prefer to put half the amount of sugar into a food processor along with the zest. Pulsing a bit combines the flavors and breaks the zest down into very small bits. They then put the sugar/zest combo into the airtight container and add the other half of the sugar and combine well before sealing it up. That works more than fine. In fact, the citrus flavor is even stronger in sugar prepared that way. I'm just lazy and don't want to have to clean my food processor so I don't do it like that.
If you roll the food processor route, you might want to either up the amount of sugar or lessen the amount of zest, depending on your preference for strength of citrus taste.
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