Orange Sugar with Szechuan Peppers

Orange Sugar with Szechuan Peppers has a bright orange flavor with slight lemony overtones that is simply effervescent.

Orange Sugar with Szechuan Peppers

I’ve mostly been experimenting with cocktails but out of all the infused sugars I’ve made, this is the one I can’t wait to start baking with.

I can just taste how good it would be in shortbread cookies, pies, and other baked goods. Like, how good would it be in Alison Roman’s Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread cookies?!?

The smell is bright and the sugar feels great on your tongue (which sounds weird to say but its true). There is a slight and pleasant numbing effect from the Szechuan peppers that gives the sugar a zing.

To help with the texture of the sugar, it’s beneficial to both crush the peppers in a mortar and pestle and then pulse them in a spice grinder. This makes sure that there aren’t any large pepper pieces in the sugar.

An optional step is to use roasted sugar. Roasting sugar creates a less sweet and more caramelized tasting sugar that can be used exactly like regular sugar.

If you don’t want to spend the time roasting sugar however, this recipe still tastes great with regular sugar.

Cocktails and Mocktails

I have a series of infused sugars and shrub recipes coming up that will all be used in a DIY Gin Bar. This Orange Sugar with Szechuan Peppers is one of those.

Make simple syrups with it to add to drinks or muddle it with herbs and shake it up to add an extra layer of flavor.

DIY Gin Bar Recipes

Here are ALL the recipes in the DIY Gin Bar, including infused sugars, shrubs, cocktails, and mocktails!

Infused Sugars

• Vanilla Bean Sugar
• Orange Sugar with Szechuan Peppers
• Lemon Zest Sugar with Cardamom
• DIY Citrus Sugar with Lemon and Dill
• Lemon and Lavender Infused Sugar

Shrubs

• Strawberry Shrub with Basil and Peppercorn
• Blackberry Shrub with Vanilla and Earl Grey
• Lemon Shrub with Cardamom and Mint
• Orange Shrub with Cardamom and Thyme
• Orange Shrub Recipe with Yunnan Tea and Szechuan Peppers

Cocktails

• Strawberry Gin Fizz
• Blackberry Gin Fizz
• Mint Gin Fizz
• Lemon Gin Fizz with Cucumber and Dill
• Orange Gin Fizz
• Gin Lemonade Cocktail

Mocktails

• Orange-Basil Strawberry Mocktail
• Vanilla Earl Grey Blackberry Mocktail
• Sparkling Basil Lemon Mocktail
• Lemon-Dill Cucumber Mocktail
• Rosemary & Mint Lemonade Mocktail

Orange Sugar with Szechuan Peppers

Orange Sugar with Szechuan Peppers has a bright orange flavor with slight lemony overtones that is simply effervescent.

Servings 2 cups

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Optional Roasting Sugar Time 2 hours hrs

Ingredients

• 2 cups roasted sugar*
• 1 teaspoon Szechuan peppers
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pour 2 cups of refined white sugar into a 6×10-inch glass baking dish and roast for 2 hours, stirring every 10 minutes. It should be a sandy tan color and coarse, like turbinado sugar. Let the sugar cool completely before moving to the next step.
• Grind the Szechuan pepper in a mortar and pestle until it is crushed and the smell is starting to release.
• Add the crushed pepper to a spice grinder along with 1 tablespoon of the roasted sugar. Pulse until the Szechuan pepper is even smaller in size and equally distributed throughout the sugar.
• Pour into a food processor with the rest of the sugar and orange zest. Pulse until equally distributed and lay the sugar out on a baking sheet to dry.

Notes

You can use regular sugar if you want. Roasted sugar can be used like regular sugar and it tastes less sweet and has a more caramelized flavor profile.

Author: Megan Wells

Course: Sides and Snacks

Keyword: beverages, desserts, infused sugar, quick and easy