Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Making Powdered Sugar

I ran out of powdered sugar today while I was making frosting.  I remembered that you could make it in a blender from granulated sugar, so I gave it a try.

I put 1/2 cup of sugar into the blender and blended it on liquefy, my highest setting until it looked like powder.  I poured it out and saw granulated sugar in the bottom, so back in it went.  The total time of blending was about 2 1/2 minutes.

I got almost 1/2 cup of powdered sugar when I was done.  I was expecting it to fluff up and be more than 1/2 cup.

Here is what was left of the store bought powdered sugar in the yellow container and the one I made in the green container.





Time to try again with 1 cup of sugar this time.






Here it is ready to blend.

Blending on the highest setting again.  I stopped it 3 different times and shook the blender.  I blended this about 2 1/2 minutes also.

This is what I got this time.  It was fluffy and is more than one cup now.

I poured it into the frosting and finished mixing the frosting.  Well the frosting has a slight grainy taste when done.  It appears all of the sugar didn't get turned into powder.

Time to get on the Internet and see what I can find.




Internet Information: from different sites.

1 cup of granulated sugar makes 1 cup of powdered.
Add 1 Tablespoon cornstarch to 1 cup of granulated sugar.  Only necessary of being stored some say.
Some say blend until it turns to a powder and some say pulse.
No site listed a time length to blend.  I guess that depends on the power of your blender.
Warning do not make in a plastic blender.  The sugar crystals will scratch the plastic.

For me:  I liked the information on the plastic blender.  Otherwise I learned that if you think it is done blend some more to be sure.

December 22, 2015 Update: I ran out of powdered sugar again while making Royal Icing for graham cracker houses with the grandkids.  I let the sugar go in the Kitchen Aid blender for what seemed like forever.  I stopped the blender, shook the sugar, blended some more, and repeated the blending and shaking several times.  I tried blending different quantities at a time.  I need 3 cups of powdered sugar and it still ended up grainy.  I think I will try the food processor next time.  Oops.  I can't do that.  I just remembered the food processor bowl is plastic.
The 6 year-old liked the texture.   

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Three More Wheat Recipes

Whole wheat kernels can be cooked and eaten.  Soaking the kernels overnight will make them cook faster.  Use 3 parts water to 1 part wheat kernels. Add salt as desired.  Do not drain.  Cook in the water they were soaking in.  White wheat will taste slightly different then red wheat, it cooks faster and is chewier.

Cooked Whole Wheat Kernels Recipe.  Click HERE

Crispy Fried Cracked Wheat Cereal

Press leftover cracked wheat cereal into a loaf pan and cool.  When cold, unmold, slice, fry, and serve hot with syrup.

Turn your cooked whole wheat kernels into pre-sweetened cereal nuggets with sugar and powdered milk.

Pre-Sweetened Cereal Nuggets.  Click HERE.