Do It Yourself

A couple years ago, I was baking and needed some regular granulated sugar. Of course with my luck and oversight, I only had Sugar in the Raw on hand. I suppose I could have made a quick run to the store, but that might have been too easy.

So, being the clever and resourceful one that I am, I figured Hey! I’ll just refine it a tad in the food processor, and it will work perfectly… Mm-hm. Long story short––I learned how powdered sugar is made! Really though. I always just kinda thought powdered sugar was its own special thing. Like it just existed as a powder in its natural form. Needless to say, though I had over-processed the large flecks of sugar into powdered sugar, I was quite amused by the outcome of my error.

Well, recently while baking my special Chocolate Chocolate Cake for my Dad’s birthday, it came time to make the frosting and, Oh guess what? I didn’t have any powdered sugar. I was in a major time crunch, but I thought, No biggy. I know just how to make powdered sugar! So, I went ahead and processed some fine granulated sugar. And… Presto! powdered sugar…

Yeah… almost. Basically, I learned this: the reason they sell powdered sugar in the store is because it’s not that easy to make. My first two batches of frosting flopped. This actually wasn’t because of the sugar. I had forgotten to add the cream. I realized this mistake on my second attempt and quickly added the cream. Appearance-wise, the second batch looked normal. Taste-wise… Yikes! Not only was the sugar itself horrible tasting (I used Wholesome Sweeteners brand; an organic, fair trade sugar), but it also felt super grainy on the tongue. The clock was ticking; I was broken out in a panic sweat. I realized I was either going to serve an embarrassing tasting cake, or I was going to have to be late and get some powdered sugar from the store.

I chose the latter. It was a good choice.

Here’s the moral of the story: be prepared when baking. Check to make sure you have all of your ingredients before hand. And for god’s sake… just buy powdered sugar.