Can You Make Your Own Powdered Sugar?
Have you come across this recipe too? And maybe like me, you’ve been tempted to give it a try?
The recipe goes something like this:
To make your own powdered sugar combine 1 cup of granulated sugar and a tablespoon of cornstarch in a food processor and mix until powdery.
Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Easy peasy powdered sugar whenever you need it.
Too bad it doesn’t really turn out like powdered sugar.
Yes, I gave in to temptation and gave it a try this week. After all, I finally had success making my own homemade brown sugar. Why not make my own powdered sugar too?
What I found out was that this might be a good trick to have up your sleeve if you’re ever in a pinch and you need to improvise with what you’ve got in the cupboard. But the finished result doesn’t look or feel much like powdered sugar even after I added a bit more cornstarch and whipped the dickens out of it in my food processor.
What you end up with is more like a superfine sugar that still more closely resembles granulated sugar than powdered sugar.
I don’t use powdered sugar very often. In fact about the only time I use it is when I mix it with a little milk to make a quick frosting glaze for cookies or cakes. So – I made up a little batch of frosting glaze with this homemade powdered sugar to see how it worked.
And it didn’t really work. The glaze was grainy. The homemade version just wasn’t a powdery enough powdered sugar.
My advice? I think we better stick with the store bought version on this one.
The only real way to make powdered sugar is with a crap ton of elbow grease. I made it during the “quarantine” with a mortar and pestle. Works good if you have a tv show or a movie you want to watch. It works well. And a workout for your arms and legs, legs holding the bowl. Think of it as the workout before the indulgence. Lol
Using a mortar and pestle sounds like it would indeed be a great workout for your arms!
I was SO hopeful you were going to have a “recipe” – or at least a “how to”.
It took me back 36 years or so to when my cooking buddy and I tried to make icing sugar (for icing of course) from “regular” sugar, while on vacation with 20 others, in Greece.(It was a Top Deck tour – of Europe on a double decker bus.)
He was an engineer which probably guided his method – even though it was not particularly successful (like your attempt). The cooking facilities on the bus were very primitive – and did not include a food processor. So we attempted to ‘crush’ the regular sugar by using a rolling pin.
It was only successful enough to make us think that we should have kept on with the rolling pin for a while more. (Probably a long while!)
I don’t think we had any cornstarch either.
Good to know. How many times have I gone to make frosting and realized I was out. I have learned to plan better and keep a package on hand the month before the birthday.