How many times have you decided to make something, only to discover that you are missing an ingredient? Before I hop in the car and go to the store, I try to figure out how to modify a recipe so that I don't have to use that ingredient. If I determine that the missing ingredient is essential and no substitutions will do, then I try to figure out a way to make that ingredient.
I had just left the grocery store and was driving home when my oldest son called to tell we had an unexpected visitor. He informed me that he had started making a cake for our guest but was afraid that we didn't have enough powdered sugar to make frosting for the cake. I was torn between turning around and going back to the store and rushing home. Since I had my youngest son with me, I decided there was no way that I could quickly get in and out of the store and decided to improvise when I got home.
When I got home I discovered that my son opted to make a plain vanilla cake and was too far along for me to turn it into a flavorful snack cake. A substituion would not do; I needed powdered sugar to make Mocha Fudge Frosting. So I used granulated sugar to make powdered sugar.
Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
Directions:
- Place sugar in a blender or food processor. Blend on high until it begins to look powdery.
- Add cornstarch and then blend for one more minute until it is light and fluffy.
Repeat until you have as much powdered sugar as you need for your recipe. Use as directed in your recipe.
This post is linked to Frugal Friday, Frugal Tuesday Tip and Kitchen Tip Tuesday.
Kitchen Belleicious says
July 8, 2011 at 6:03 amamazing! are you kidding me- this tip has been lurking around forever and I never knew about it! Genius i tell you and a lifesaver! Love this post to pieces!
Swathi says
July 8, 2011 at 2:47 pmI heard about powdered sugar contains cornstarch now I know how much it has.
Candace says
July 8, 2011 at 7:19 pmNo way! I had no idea. Thank you for sharing this great tip!
Mama Eva says
July 8, 2011 at 7:28 pmNOTE! when you blend it, let it rest a bit before opening! if you open the blender right after stopping, you will have a dust cloud escape 😉 we’ve done this before….
Tamilyn says
July 9, 2011 at 6:33 pmI know I had read that somewhere, but I don’t remember corn starch in it-but makes perfect sense to get it fluffy. And way cheaper than buying a bag of powdered sugar.
Elsa says
July 10, 2011 at 2:45 pmI made this by mistake once. I over blended sugar (I can’t remember why I was blending it to begin with) and when I opened it up, powder flew everywhere. I didn’t realize you had to add cornstarch though. I will remember this! 🙂
Sara @Learning the Frugal Life says
July 12, 2011 at 8:16 pmI have heard of this before but have never tried it. Will keep it in my list of substitutes. Thanks for linking up to the Frugal Tuesday Tip!
http://learningthefrugallife.blogspot.com/
K. says
February 4, 2016 at 2:48 amCorn starch does not need to enter. Simple sugar grind and you have powdered sugar.