Taking Stock: Give Me Some Sugar Baby!!!!!

This is the next installment of the “Taking Stock” series, and while I am still trying to figure out exactly how I am going to replace granulated sugar in my pantry I have at least reconciled the fact that it plays a major role in my life as a baker and confectionery artist. It is hard to get away from using sugar because for many things it provides bulk and tenderness to baked goods. I use it for making my homemade syrups and liqueurs, for making pretty pressed sugar decorations for cupcakes and tea, for canning jams and jellies, and for making a sugar body scrub for my bath time. True, I can use honey to sweeten tea or to pour over pancakes, but I feel that sugar is one of those things that I will just have to buy rather than produce. There is however a happy medium. I do use granulated sugar to create a few of my other baking supplies. Most people do not know that granulated sugar is the base for both brown sugar and confectioners' or powdered sugar. Its also used for making those beautifully colored sugar sprinkles that look so good on cakes and cookies. Yup! Sugar has versatility.

I actually found out about the brown sugar when I ran out while making cookies one day. I remembered reading about ingredient substitutions in a baking magazine once, so I searched and found the recipe. It was too easy! Since then I kept a zippy bag full in my pantry. That lead me to research other sugar-based goodies, thus the colored sugars and pressed sugar pieces. Later, when Cake decorating took over my life, I discovered a recipe for confectioner's sugar. These recipes are all so easy to make at home, I wonder how we as a culture ever began buying them exclusively in the grocery shops. I hope to make you a convert! Here are my recipes. Hope you like them.

Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Molasses

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

Mix these two ingredients well and store them in an air tight container. I mix small quantities to avoid the possibility of the sugar hardening over time, but if you feel that you can use it up make as much as you want. Told ya this was easy!

Confectioners' Sugar

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Tablespoon Corn Starch

In a blender, blend sugar for two minutes on highest speed. Add corn starch and continue blending until you reach the desired consistency. The cornstarch keeps the sugar from packing down. I use a lot of this, so I make quite a bit and store it in one of my old popcorn tins in the pantry.

Colored Sugar Sprinkles

1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar

Liquid Food Coloring (9 drops for soft colors; 18 drops for bold colors)

In a medium bowl, add sugar and liquid coloring and whisk together until all th color droplets are blended in. I use a generic food coloring from Walmart, the kind that comes in the little plastic dropper bottles. Add a few drops at a time and incorporate the color into the sugar. Stop when you get the color you are after. I store these colored sugars in small Mason jelly jars with the lid tightly on. Mixing colors works well as long as you slowly add the coloring and mix it well. Use the sugars for sprinkling cookies, cupcakes, cake designs, or pressed sugar pretties.

Gourmet Flavored Sugar

Great in coffee, tea, yogurt, pressed sugars, and sprinkles

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Teaspoon Any Flavored Extract

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and flavoring until thoroughly combined. Store in an air tight container.

Pressed Sugar Pretties

I use these when I have guest over. They make an ordinary cup of coffee of tea seem very special.

!/2 Cup of Granulated Sugar

1 Teaspoon Water and /or Extract or Liquid Flavoring, or a mixture of these

Whisk together the sugar and the liquid; spoon mixture into a candy flower shaped or bonbon shaped mold; scrape off excess sugar (back into the bowl) and press sugar down gently to pack into the mold. Turn pressed sugar out onto waxed paper to dry. If sugar is stuck in mold, gently tap until it releases. Truly, you will have some destroyed in the process, but you can always add the sugar back to the bowl and try again. These should dry at least for a half an hour before handling. Store them wrapped in tissue paper in a pretty tin or box.

For tea, try lemon, mint, and vanilla.

Coffee can have much bolder flavors like chocolate, rum, and spice.

Experiment and enjoy the Simple things in life!

Taking Stock: Part 2-Recipes for Dry Staples

In my pantry you will find the popcorn tins of Christmas Past. I save them because they make excellent (and pretty) canisters for my flour, cornmeal, and dry ingredients. If you read Taking Stock Part 1: Pantry Basics, then you know that I make my own biscuit and baking mix, cake flour, and bread flour. Once made, these get stored in the large tins, as I do a good bit of baking. I thought that I would share with you some of the recipes that I have collected for staples in my pantry. Come back frequently, as I am always updating with new recipes that I find to further my own efforts in self reliance.

Biscuit and Baking Mix

17 ½ cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup baking powder

½ cup sugar

2 Tablespoons salt

4 cups shortening

Sift all the dry ingredients into a super-large bowl. Add one cup of shortening at a time, working it up with your fingers as you go, until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Store in a covered container. Use this recipe in the same way that you would use the commercially prepared mixes. I recommend that you get a Bisquick recipe book and keep it handy.

Cake Flour for the Baker

Begin with a 1 cup measuring cup; for every cup of cake flour that you wish to make, place 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch into the measuring cup, then fill the rest of the way with all purpose flour. This is equal to 1 cup of cake flour when you are done. Next, sift the flour mixture 3 times and store in an airtight container. I like to make this recipe in bulk because I bake and sell cakes as a side business, but you make as much as you need.

To make 4 cups at one time, use a 4 cup measure. Use ½ cup of cornstarch to 3 ½ cups all purpose flour; sift 4-5 times before storing.

Bread Flour

Easy recipe!

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1 Tablespoon Vital Wheat Gluten

I mix about six cups of this at once. I simply add the flour and gluten into my tin canister and whisk thoroughly. Use for any recipe calling for bread flour or for any time you make a loaf of white bread.

Taking Stock: Pantry Basics for Self Reliance

While reading Amy Dacyczyn”s Tightwad Gazette, I observed the “Pantry Principle”, in which Amy describes her family's food supply. Many of the items are simple staple items, some are homemade, others bought in bulk. As I read I began to realize that she was describing my own pantry contents. This makes perfect sense because our goal in living simply overlaps with Amy's goal of living frugally. Many items that we once purchased in the stores we now make ourselves. Basic staples are the key components to a self-sufficient pantry. Basically, my pantry contains lots of baking ingredients, some canned goods bought from the “cheap” store (Save-A-Lot), and items that I make to help with meal preparation, like flavored vinegars, liqueurs, syrups and extracts, etc.

Its about the same in my refrigerator. We have a supply of milk, butter, and eggs, leftovers, homemade yogurt and meat and cheese for meal preparation. Very simple and very frugal. While it is true that we do still buy quite a bit of the food we eat, our goal is to raise as much of it as possible in the near future. I also feel that it is worth mentioning that we also have practical hobbies, such as gardening, wine making, etc. that allow us a return for the money spent on the activities. (More on this in a future blog.)

If you look over the pantry list below, you will notice that we are working in the direction of “do-it yourself” as our lifestyle slowly moves closer to the land and the farm. Here is a breakdown of my self reliant pantry so far.

I begin with the staple goods. I only need the basics plus a couple of extras. All large quantity staples are stored in large tin popcorn canisters< (given to me at holiday).

All Purpose Flour (I buy 20lbs. at once); Whole Wheat Flour; Self Rising Flour; Bread Flour; Cake Flour (home made); Biscuit & Baking Mix (home made); Cornmeal; Granulated Sugar; Confectioner’s Sugar

Next, I think about the little extras for baking.

Vanilla (and other) Extract (home made); Cooking Oil; Shortening; Lard (homemade); Pan Spray;

Cocoa Powder; Corn Starch; Baking Soda; Baking Powder; Brown Sugar; Pancake Syrup (Homemade)

Corn Syrup (Light and Dark); Molasses; Honey (planning someday on keeping bees); Nuts (Black Walnuts and Hickory Nuts are gathered, shelled and stored); Dried Fruit (Raisins, fruitcake mix, crazins, etc.)

Next, miscellaneous cooking items:

Vinegars: Apple cider Vinegar, White Vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar, Herb Vinegars (Homemade), Berry Vinegars (Homemade), Red and/or White Wine vinegars (Homemade)

Pasta: Some purchased, Some Homemade. I bought a pasta maker at Goodwill and make fresh pasta about once a month. I form the wet pasta into little nest balls to dry then store in zipper bags.

Herbs: a wide variety, mostly home grown, I purchase what cannot be grown. This allows an extra bonus. Gardening is an excellent hobby. Even container grown herbs will move you closer to self-reliance.

Spirits: Red Wine (homemade), other assorted wines (homemade), assorted liqueurs (homemade), Rum, Vodka, Bourbon; (I should add here that we are not much for drinking our spirits. Mostly these are used for cooking and company.)

Canned Goods:

Assorted Soups (home canned), Chili (home canned), Beef and Chicken Stock (home canned), Potatoes (home canned), Carrots (home canned), White Beans (home canned), Assorted Jams and Jellies (home canned), We also have a selection of dried beans and grains, an assortment of bottled sauces and tomato based products. For now we do eat store bought, canned veggies, but we are moving in the direction of home grown, home canned and frozen veggies.

In the refrigerator we have store bought milk, at least until I can move to the farm and get either a cow or goat, or both, eggs which are purchased during the winter and farm produced during the warm season, mayonnaise (homemade), peanut butter (homemade), yogurt (homemade by the gallon), yogurt cheese (homemade), butter (store bought until I get that cow), buttermilk (homemade), cottage cheese and sour cream (store bought).

This list is considered a starting point, an assessment of sorts, not a definitive list. I am always researching recipes for future homemade projects I see many places on my list where I may strive to improve the quality of the food, and further my plans toward self reliance and Simple Living.