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.   

Week 31 - Cooking Substitutions (Cornmeal and Powdered Sugar), Purchase Staple Items

Week 31 - June 30 

Cooking Substitutions

Make your own cornmeal by grinding popcorn, dried dent corn (field corn) or dried flint corn (Indian corn) in a fine powder.

Make your own powdered sugar by putting 1 Cup of granulated sugar and 2 Tbsp of cornstarch in a blender and process on high until powdery.  The cornstarch is not necessary, but keeps it soft and fluffy if it is to be stored for a while.  1 Cup of granulated sugar makes 1 cup of powdered sugar.

Home food storage: Purchase one month’s worth of a staple item such as wheat, flour, sugar, rice, beans, or pasta.