1,524 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

The aromatic power of sugar

In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors.
Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas.

By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making them even more fragrant.

6,694 5/5 (1 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Sugar Flavours Zests Recipes Flavouring Tastes Tips

Last modified on: December 25^th 2024

For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend

The aromatic power of sugar

Why does sugar capture flavours so well?

Sugar is hygroscopic, which means it attracts and retains moisture.
When it comes into contact with an aromatic ingredient, such as lemon zest or a vanilla pod, it absorbs the essential oils and volatile compounds.
The result? A fragrant sugar, ready to deliver these flavors more evenly and intensely in your recipe.

How to optimize sugar's ability to do this?

To get the most out of sugar in your recipes, simply :
1) Mix only the aromatic ingredients and the sugar: For example, zest the lemon(s) directly into the sugar, mix well(whisk or spoon), cover or wrap and leave to stand.
2) Leave the sugar and flavourings in contact for at least an hour (time is your ally).
For best results, overnight is ideal, allowing the sugar to absorb the flavors deeply.

What's next?

Simply continue your recipe, using this now deliciously flavored sugar.
The taste will be stronger and more balanced, in other words, your recipe will be better than if you'd simply mixed all the ingredients together.

Other gourmet examples

Here are a few other tasty combinations where this technique works wonders:

Sugar and vanilla bean: Perfect for flavoring cookies, creams or jams.
Sugar and spices: Cinnamon, cardamom or ginger, for warmly flavored shortbread or gingerbread.
Sugar and herbs: Basil or mint, perfect for sorbets or homemade syrups.
Sugar and flowers: Lavender or rose, for elegant, subtle desserts.

Why is this method better than conventional blending?

When zests or flavors are mixed directly with other ingredients in a recipe, some of their flavor is dispersed or lost in the cooking process.
By impregnating the sugar first, you ensure that these flavors are fully captured and released evenly, for a more intense and balanced result.
This way of doing things (sugar + aromatic ingredients mixed separately) can be applied to any recipe that contains them.

To sum up: first mix together the sugar and aromatic ingredients in your recipe, leave to stand for at least 1 hour, then continue your recipe with this highly aromatic sugar.

Lasts posts

Oven height

When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.
October 8^th 20251,1335

The importance of sieving

In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?
September 3^rd 20256,7273

The grease spray

As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...
August 26^th 20256,1685

Cake moulds

When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?
August 25^th 20256,2815

Thinning out herbs

If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...
August 8^th 20254,4285

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

Sugar syrups

In cooking, and especially in pastry, we often use sugar syrups, a simple mixture of water and sugar in varying proportions. Here is a presentation of their differences. .
January 17^th 202311 K4.8

The 3 secrets of Parisian flan

A flan Parisien, or boulanger, is a simple yet delicious cake. A cream, a mixture of milk, eggs and sugar, is poured into a raw pastry base and baked in the oven until the pastry and cream are cooked. This is the simplest version of the recipe, probably the original one, but nowadays the cream...
July 21^th 202315 K4.7

Cutting soft cheeses

As you may have already noticed, when you have to use a "soft" cheese in a recipe - their exact name is "soft cheese" - such as Camembert, Munster or Mont d'or, it's not easy to make anything other than thick slices.
February 20^th 20249,0255

Raising (or leavening) agents

When we want to make a dough or batter rise when baking, either in patisserie or bread-making, we need to use a raising agent or leavening agent, one of which is called leaven. In the context of baking, a raising agent is simply what "makes something rise". It is a substance which, when added to...
June 16^th 202156 K4.8

Should a sausage be pricked before cooking?

If you are using sausages in a recipe, you may have already asked yourself the question: Should you prick it before cooking it, or not? You will certainly find as many opinions "you should prick" as "you should not". Let's try to untangle all this.
September 29^th 201847 K4.1