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Pearl Sugar
Pearl sugar can be a sort of specialty sugar that's usually used in baking in Scandinavia along with a few other
countries in Northern Europe. The sugar just isn't entirely round, like real pearls,
however it comes in big round-ish chunks of sugar.
The most remarkable thing about this kind of sugar is that it doesnt melt simply when exposed to moisture or to high heat,
meaning that you are able to mix it into some cookies for a bit crunch or sprinkle it on top of
a cake along with the sugar will stay put (and stay really visible) as you bake. Pearl sugar may be discovered in various sizes,
varying primarily by brand. Some are the size of significant sea salt flakes, whilst others are more like peas or macadamia nuts.
For me, the smaller sizes tend to me much more versatile since they can double as sprinkles for baking.
At a glance, pearl sugar resembles sugar cube pieces.
Sugar cubes are compressed blocks of sugar that are designed to dissolve quickly in hot liquid.
The individual grains of sugar are not held tightly together. Pearl sugar is significantly a lot more heavily compacted,
which is why it does not melt quickly during baking. Mixing pearl sugar into baked goods will give them
some additional sweetness and crunch. Sprinkling it over the top of a bread or pastry will do the same,
and will also give your baked great a nice finishing look.
You wont find pearl sugar in just any market - not unless you live in Scandinavia,
Belgium or some other country where it's commonly included in goodies - but you can discover it at some
specialty cooking stores. And, obviously, you can also locate it online.
Pearl sugar looks extremely comparable in appearance to the huge pieces of salt you might discover on a soft pretzel from a pretzel
vendor. It is most typical in Scandinavian countries, where it makes a fairly topping for numerous desserts and pastries.
Its a bit hard to discover inside the US, unless you know where to look. The easiest place to locate pearl sugar is on-line;
even Amazon carries several brands, most of them imported from Sweden. Needless to say those are distinct than Belgian pearl sugar utilized
for the famous Liege waffle.
This kind of sugar doesnt genuinely look like pearls, but it does evoke pearl color in its whiteness.
It might be best described as large granulated sugar. In the manufacturing method,
sugar is pressed together to produce larger grains, normally measuring about .07 inches (2 mm) each for the Swedish 1
and about 5mm for the Belgian pearl sugar.
It has more of an oval shape than a round shape, but every individual piece could vary in appearance.
The distinct benefit to pearl sugar in case you wish to sugar the tops of cooking items is that it tends to withstand
a higher heat just before melting. Should you need to sugar a bit of bread, the pearl sugar wont melt as it bakes inside the oven,
and will look the same coming out of the oven as it did going in. Granulated sugar, in contrast, may melt,
particularly if the baking time on a dessert is lengthy.
Similar products made within the US include numerous types of coarse sugar, which may be available in brown or
bright colors and pastels. Normally pearl sugar is the best option in the event you want a white sugar topping for a baked great.
One alternative if you dont have pearl sugar on hand, is to crush up sugar cubes, as suggested by cook
and talk show host Rachel Ray, as a fast substitution.
You can use pearl sugar to top any type of sweet bread or pastry.
You might also discover recipes for Belgian waffles that call for it.
If you see recipes asking for nib sugar, be aware this is an alternate name for the sugar.
1 well-liked recipe containing this sugar is the Swedish treat chokladboll.
These are unbaked candies that are a mix of powdered cocoa, coffee, oatmeal, and butter, shaped into balls.
They may be rolled in pearl sugar, and then additionally rolled in coconut flakes,
though if they are topped with coconut, they're occasionally known as kokosball.
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Belgian Vs Scandinavian
There are a lots of talk about the pearl sugar, mainly from people who want to try the famous belgian waffles known as the Liege waffle.
And there are a lots of confusions as well. The reason is it is possible to find 2 differents kinds of pearl sugar online these days.
The first one is the Scandinavian and the second one is the belgian one.
Pearl sugar made in scandinavia is bigger piece of sugar strongly compacted and is a one piece of sugar. It is highly resistant
to moisture and high temperature. This pearl sugar doesn't melt when baked so it can be used for decorating different type of
sweet breads and pastries. After baking, those pearl sugar crack under the tooth and add a sweet taste to pantries. It's delicious.
The second one is the belgian one and use mainly for Liege waffles. It is bigger in size than the scandinavian pearl sugar
and is made by compacting granulated sugar. This one will melt easier than the scandinavian. But since the baking of a waffles takes
less than 3 minutes, this pearl sugar will not have the time to melt,but will be soft and will not "crack" in the mouth.
Even the Lars belgian pearl sugar will not do what the Belgian pearl sugar is doing. It is still a scandinavian pearl sugar
but bigger in size.
Here is a picture found online of what seems to be a Liege waffle made with scandinavian pearl sugar. The sugar seems decorating
the waffles, even if it was mixed with the dough, instead of doing what a belgian pearl sugar is supposed to do.
And here is a picture of a real Liege waffle where we can see the pearl sugar intact but soft enough to make that waffle so damn good!
So, for the best gaufres de Liege a.k.a. Liege waffles, use only real belgian pearl sugar!
Usefull links:
- Belgian waffles history
- Belgian waffles recipes
- Buy Liege waffles
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