Sage infused Sugar/Salt

 So at the Sage class I attended, I was recommended to trim my sage to make it more bushier.  I had blooms and a few leaves that got trimmed off of my Cleveland Allen Chickering Sage and hummingbird sage.  The hummingbird sage was infused in the sugar and the Allen Chickering sage is going to infuse salt.

I thought back to my culinary school days and we would infuse sugar (and salt) jars with vanilla, citrus rinds, or dried out herbs.  With the strong, sweet smell of hummingbird sage, I decided to infuse it with date sugar.  Date sugar is a whole food so it isn’t processed like sugar cane sugar.  It has a strong date smell and I think the hummingbird sage’s ripe pineapple string tropical smells will complement the date sugar.  You can use any sugar (or salt) you have.  If you don’t want to do a whole container you can do a small 2oz amount of sugar/salt and shake and taste it every few days to see if flavors infused.  If I like how it smells and tastes, I leave it in there and just add more sugar to container as needed. Once I notice the smell and flavor no longer permeate, then I discard the sage blooms and leaves.

Recipe:

16oz jar (or size large enough to fit sugar/salt

8oz of any type of sugar or salt

A few leaves and blooms of dried sage or herb you’d like to use

In jar, place sugar and leaves and blooms. Close container and shake well. Label it with name of herb, sugar type and date. Ready to use.

Tips: 

-I sprinkle sugar on fruit, oatmeal, tea, and coffee.

-You can store in for a few days and use it with more of same herb to make icecream or sorbets.

I don’t wait for a particular date for flavors to mingle. I start using it as I need sugar. But I did notice the flavor intensity after a week or so.