Raspberry sugar
Dec. 16th, 2016 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerThere's an artisanal cooking store next to one of the Starbucks where I work (I'm alternating between two now. They just can't get enough of me), and as I got to work a bit early today, I decided to drop by. Just to look around, you know, not to buy anything.
Famous last words! One of the clerks took possession of me the moment I arrived, which normally I don't like, but she was so enthusiastic and helpful and also so delighted to get me samples of everything that in fact I was rather charmed. I tried:
1. Habanero sugar. "It's super spicy," she warned me, so of course I had to try it, and to get my mouth to stop burnings she had to get me a little cup of water and also
2. Balsamic vinegars, multiple varieties. They have an entire wall of little vinegar barrels with spigots so you can fill vinegar bottles fresh from the source, as it were.
3. Olive oils, which she kindly mixed with the vinegars for me, so I could get an idea of what they'd taste like as a vinaigrette. I particularly liked the basil olive oil with the peach vinegar, which tasted like summer (in fact the basil olive oil was one of the few things I could easily imagine a use for; peach vinegar may be delicious, but what do you do with it?), and also a blood orange olive oil which she mixed with some vinegar, I can't remember which now, but it was the perfect vinaigrette for a fancy holiday dinner with a salad stuffed with oranges and walnuts and pomegranate seeds, all the tastes of the season.
She'd been so nice that I felt I ought to get something, and I could not in that moment imagine how to use habanero sugar, so I got a little ounce bag of raspberry sugar instead. I'm thinking of making some lemon bars & sprinkling the raspberry sugar on top. Or perhaps it would go well on top of Christmas sugar cookies - white vanilla icing and red raspberry sugar?
The habanero sugar has been on my mind though. You'd need to be careful about proportions, but I think - if you used just a very little bit of it - it might be a good addition to rich chocolate brownies, just to give them a little kick.
Famous last words! One of the clerks took possession of me the moment I arrived, which normally I don't like, but she was so enthusiastic and helpful and also so delighted to get me samples of everything that in fact I was rather charmed. I tried:
1. Habanero sugar. "It's super spicy," she warned me, so of course I had to try it, and to get my mouth to stop burnings she had to get me a little cup of water and also
2. Balsamic vinegars, multiple varieties. They have an entire wall of little vinegar barrels with spigots so you can fill vinegar bottles fresh from the source, as it were.
3. Olive oils, which she kindly mixed with the vinegars for me, so I could get an idea of what they'd taste like as a vinaigrette. I particularly liked the basil olive oil with the peach vinegar, which tasted like summer (in fact the basil olive oil was one of the few things I could easily imagine a use for; peach vinegar may be delicious, but what do you do with it?), and also a blood orange olive oil which she mixed with some vinegar, I can't remember which now, but it was the perfect vinaigrette for a fancy holiday dinner with a salad stuffed with oranges and walnuts and pomegranate seeds, all the tastes of the season.
She'd been so nice that I felt I ought to get something, and I could not in that moment imagine how to use habanero sugar, so I got a little ounce bag of raspberry sugar instead. I'm thinking of making some lemon bars & sprinkling the raspberry sugar on top. Or perhaps it would go well on top of Christmas sugar cookies - white vanilla icing and red raspberry sugar?
The habanero sugar has been on my mind though. You'd need to be careful about proportions, but I think - if you used just a very little bit of it - it might be a good addition to rich chocolate brownies, just to give them a little kick.
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no subject
Date: 2016-12-17 09:33 pm (UTC)I also like spicy chocolate mixes a lot, so I like your idea of using the habanero sugar in brownies. Perhaps also a spicy hot chocolate drink?
no subject
Date: 2016-12-17 09:50 pm (UTC)A spicy hot chocolate would also be good! It would be easier to adjust spice levels there than in a brownie, too; you sprinkle a liiiiittle bit in and then taste it, and then a little more, until the hot chocolate has just the right amount of kick. With the brownies I think you'd just have to decide on an amount and pray.