Powdered sugar

Confectioners Powdered Icing Sugar

 

At the local festival or fair, we all have a favorite treat that is dusted to perfection with powdered sugar, whether it be a funnel cake, a chocolate cake, or maybe some other baked goodie. Donuts would certainly be lost without their powdered sugar-based glaze and the cultural treat from Louisiana, the beignet, would not be the famous treat it is without the help of powdered sugar. But in industrial applications, it is widely used in such things as whipped cream and icing. Typically, confectioner's sugar is merely granulated sugar that is ground to 10X, which is as fine as sugar is ground, and is easily managed at home in a coffee grinder or by hand in some form of mortar and pestle.

 

Sugar dates back as far as 510 B.C. when soldiers under Emperor Darius noticed the honey-like sap-producing cane, but is not mentioned again in history until found by Alexander the Great in 327 B.C., who brought sugar cane to Persia, making it a popular sweetener. Documentation of the production of actual sugar is kept in European records that show shipping details. The boiling and pressing of cane to produce sugar occurred as early as 300 A.D. by the Indians. Throughout the middle ages, sugar was the most documented luxury traded. And it is no small wonder that shortly after the popularization of sugar in Europe, we see the invention of icing, which means the invention of confectioners sugar.

 

Baked goods aren't the only place for powdered sugar! The classic recipe for the perfect mohito requires the use of confectioners sugar. This recipe was enjoyed by Hemmingway in the mohito's birthplace and is as follows: 2 ounces of club soda, 2 ounces of white rum, 1 sprig of mint and 4 mint leaves, 2 ounces of lime juice and of course, 1 teaspoon of confectioners sugar. Another popular drink that is incomplete without the fairy dust of the sugar world is the margarita. Ice, lime juice, orange liquor and tequila make up enough liquid to fill a margarita glass, but this drink calls for up to a half cup of confectioners sugar! Cheers and enjoy.