Colored Sugar

Make your own colored sugars to add decorating pizzazz to your cakes, cookies and other desserts. All you need is granulated sugar and food coloring. The result is beautiful sugars tinted in any color you desire, in any quantity you need, and such an inexpensive alternative to buying those little jars of sugars from your grocery store.

Uses for colored sugars:

The possibilities are limitless, but here are a few suggestions in how you may use colored sugars.

 

 

Making Colored Sugars

Ingredients:

Tip: The amount of granulated sugar depends on what you are making. Start with 1 cup of sugar and add more if desired or reduce the amount if you just need a little bit.

Directions:

1. Place sugar in a plastic resealable bag. Tip: I like to use a gallon-size bag so the sugar and color have room to mix.
2. If using liquid food coloring, add just 1 or 2 drops of color. If using paste color, dip the end of a toothpick in the paste to get just a very small amount of color on the end of the toothpick. Swirl the toothpick around in the sugar. Tip: Use very small amounts of food coloring to start and to produce pastel colors. The more color you use the darker and more vibrant the sugar becomes. Food coloring is so concentrated that usually just a drop is enough to achieve the desired color.
3. Close the bag, removing as much air as possible. Shake and knead the bag to evenly disperse the color. Tip: It may take a few minutes to make sure all of the color is evenly distributed. If you see little clumps of concentrated color left, continue kneading the bag to disperse the color.
4. If the color seems too light, add more food coloring in very small amounts, then repeat step 3 to distribute the added color. If the color seems too dark, simply add more sugar; shake the bag to mix in the added sugar.

 

 

Colored Sugar Tips

Left-Over Colored Sugar:

After making your recipe that uses a colored sugar, don’t throw away the leftovers; use just as you would regular granulated sugar. Store left over colored sugar the same way you normally store granulated sugar. A plastic resealable bag or small jar with a tight-fitting lid works well.

Suggested Uses for Colored Sugar: 

Most colors can be used at any time of year or any holiday season, and when you are making your own colored sugars, you have a rainbow of possibilities open to your imagination. Some traditional color schemes include:

Creating Basic Colors: