Getting Fancy With Infused Sugars

By: Ciaran Keast

Want to take your sweet tooth to the next level? Infused sugars are easy to make and can be utilized in a number of deliciously awesome ways. Stir them into hot beverages, shake them up in cocktails, or sprinkle them over baked goods. They also make great little gifts when poured into a tin and tied with a bow.

Crafting infused sugar is nothing more complex than adding spices, herbs, or other flavors to sugar and letting it sit. Of course, you can make it more complex than that, depending on the combination of ingredients. Almost anything can go into sugar, from tea and coffee to dried fruits or herbs, and you can use any kind of sugar, from plain white to raw.
Below are just a few infusion ideas to get you started. How you use them is up to you.

Lavender Sugar

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lavender buds

Preparation:
Put sugar and lavender in an airtight container. Seal and shake well to combine. Allow to sit for at least a few days, shaking once in a while, before using just like regular sugar.

Chai Spiced Sugar

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup chai OR 1/4 cup combination of cardamom pods, ginger root, cinnamon chips, black peppercorns, and cloves

Preparation:
Place chai or spices in a food processor or spice mill and grind until fine.
Mix sugar and chai (or spices) in an airtight container. Seal and shake well to combine. Allow to sit for at least a few days, shaking once in a while.
Note: For a spicy powdered sugar like the one shown in the photo above, put the sugar in the food processor along with the chai and grind until fine and powdery. It's perfect sprinkled on waffles!

Orange Citrus Sugar

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1-2 Tablespoons orange zest

Preparation:
Put sugar and orange zest in an airtight container. Seal and shake well to combine. Allow to sit for at least a few days, shaking once in a while, before using just like regular sugar.

Ciaran Keast

Ciaran Keast loves art, semicolons, books, cats -- and all the tea, ever. When they're not posting tea photos on social media, you'll catch them at almost every Plum Deluxe event.

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