….just a bit for my hot cup of tea..not too much…just a demitasse spoonful….that’s all.
How, as a Southerner, can I not like a little sugar? You other Southerners know what I mean. “Give me some sugah” being said to you as a child most often from some of your favorite Aunts & Grandmothers. Not literally “sugar”, but “sugah” which we all know means a kiss…as in “come over here honey and give Aunt Ruth some sugah”. So it is no wonder that many of us have a bit of a sweet tooth. We like our tea sweet, our cakes & pies a bit over the top and question those who do not.
I take a New Southern approach to “sugah”…a little bit goes a long way and if it is an interesting & somewhat exotic sugar flavored with vanilla beans, ginger or lemon grass then it must be better for me when I stir a very wee amount into a hot cup of tea. Yes?
“My Very Little Recipes for Aromatic & Flavored Sugars for Beverages & Desserts”
#1. Brown Sugar Cubes Scented with Candied Ginger
Fill a glass jar loosely with brown sugar cubes & toss in a handful of candied ginger pieces. Shake well, add tight-fitting lid. After a week or so your scented sugar is ready for a hot cup of strong black tea.
#2. Lavender & Lemon White Sugar
Into a glass jar filled with white sugar add a few stems of air-dried lavender & fresh lemon peels. Add tight-fitting lid & shake jar every few days. After a week or so the aromas & flavors will meld into a very delicate lemon sugar with hints of lavender. Very good with an Earl Grey tea or sprinkled over shortbread cookies.
#3. Coconut Palm Sugar with Star Anise & Green Cardamom Pods
Combine 1 tablespoon of slightly crushed cardamom pods & a few star anise with a generous cup of coconut palm sugar for a wonderfully earthy sugar. Put int0 a jar with tight-fitting lid, shake often for a week or so allowing the sugar to become aromatic. I like this sugar with hot tea as well as cold tea over ice cubes.
#4. Very Vanilla Bean Raw Sugar
Not so unusual but oh-so-perfect with afternoon tea and a good book. Cut vanilla bean carefully down the length, open up to reveal beans and stick into a jar of raw sugar. Shake & leave covered for a couple of weeks before using. When you open the lid for the first time the scent is amazing. The perfect topping for a fruit tart or to make sugar-butter toast.
#5. Caster Sugar Scented with Fresh Lemon Grass
Add a few stalks of fresh lemon grass cut into pieces to this superfine cane sugar for a few days, shaking often to keep sugar from clumping, for a delightful sugar that is great dusted over pancakes or cookies or stirred into hot lemon-zinger tea.
#6. Swedish Pearl Sugar with Cinnamon & Nutmeg
Readily available at most supermarkets in their international food aisle, I have always loved the way it looks, but really never knew what to do with it. I bought some, added a partially grated whole nutmeg & a couple of cinnamon sticks and was loving the aroma immediately. I think I will use this to decorate some simple cocoa sugar cookies for the holidays.
This blog was inspired by my collection of sugars from around the world. I found some of them while traveling, some were given to me as gifts and some I found in local international markets. Palm Sugar from Malaysia & Cambodia, White Pearl Sugar from Sweden, Rock Candy Sugar from China, Basterd Sugar from the The Netherlands, Dark Muscovado from the Mauritius, Panela from El Salvador & Piloncillo Sugar from Mexico, as well as Turbinado, White & Caster.
“Be sweet & make every sip count”
How sweet! Fear the little pink packets, embrace sugah!
What wonderful flavours, I’ll have to try them. GG
Even someone like me without a sweet tooth can appreciate this post. Great photos.
great post! I love all of these aromatic sugars, beautiful gifts! My first experience with “give me some sugah” was from a next door neighbor in New York who was from North Carolina. She was our “Aunt Bev” —someone we both loved and feared—when she made her “sugah” demand.
Loved the lemon and lavender sugar perfect for a cup of hot tea on a cold winter day
what a fabulous idea for a post and for creating different flavours – with ginger or lemon grass,, thanks for the great ideas. And as ever beauctifully photographed !
I love the idea of your flavored sugars. They will make lovely little hostess gifts.
Give Me Some Sugar…..sugah! Teresa Blackburn's “food on fifth”Blog was stored as a favorite :), I really like your blog!
Wonderful ideas. I’ve only made vanilla sugar. It seems I have some experimenting ahead of me.
You, my dear, are a complete genius. I will do so many of these…Jill
Ok I have a couple quick questions if I am making these as Christmas gifts when should I start, how long do they last, and finally do I remover the spices (leaves and what not) before I give the gift?
How would one make an almond flavored sugar?
Robin, Here is what I would do. Put 1 cup of granulated sugar in a food processor, add a drop or two of almond extract and pulse a few times to blend well. With that much sugar and that little wet almond extract I think it would be so well distributed that the sugar would not clump. The sugar itself would be a bit finer but that means it would simply dissolve more quickly. Good luck and let me know what happens.
Reblogged this on Royal Graffiti.
This is genius! I mean, I feel like you could flavour sugar with basically anything – have you ever tried one that won’t work out?