TURBINADO MODE

This story was created by our partners at the Heavy Table, a weekly culinary newsletter dedicated to covering the best food and drink of the Upper Midwest. Back them on Patreon to receive four distinct email newsletters focused on dining, the restaurant business, spirits, and home cooking: http://www.patreon.com/heavytable

If you’re like the me from two weeks ago, you don’t really have much of an opinion on turbinado sugar. “It’s too chunky for coffee!” you’d think. “I probably could use it in baked goods, but I don’t really trust it!” you’d also think. And then you’d go back to doing what you’ve done to turbinado sugar for many years already: ignoring it.

If you’re curious about what it is, it’s minimally processed sugar that looks like a bunch of little crystals made from molasses, and it has a lot more gritty soul than the insidious white processed sugar that we know and love so well.

It turns out that it has at least a couple of killer applications. For example, you can use it to make a really excellent non-alcoholic drink, like this one from Good Drinks via my post on THE COOKBOOK TEST:

James Norton / Heavy Table

DON’T TOUCH MY CAR KEYS

1 1/2 oz. coconut syrup (recipe follows)
¾ ounces freshly squeezed lime juice
3 oz. soda water
5 dashes or more of aromatic bitters (Angostura, etc.)
1 sprig of mint for garnish

Fill a collins glass with crushed ice, add syrup, lime juice, and soda water. Stir with swizzle stick for 20 seconds to frost the glass. Finish with bitters and garnish with mint.

COCONUT SYRUP
Makes enough for about 14 drinks

1 13 ½ oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups turbinado sugar

In a saucepan, combine sugar and coconut milk over medium-low heat, whisking until sugar dissolves (about 5 minutes.) Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Store up to a week in the fridge; when it separates, just shake well before using.)

But then, even after making a giant pile of coconut syrup, you might be left with a lot of turbinado sugar crystals and curious about what to do next. Here’s what to do next: make the best caramel sauce you’ve ever tasted in your life. Rich, full-flavored, ridiculously good on ice cream, even better on bananas, this stuff is a cut above anything else we’ve ever had. There may be more that we can do with these marvelous brown crystals, but we don’t really care now - this caramel sauce is a killer app. (Hat tip to Erica's Recipes for the original version of this sauce.)

TURBINADO CARAMEL SAUCE
1 Cup Turbinado sugar crystals
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 Cup heavy cream

In a large pot on medium-high heat, heat the sugar. When it starts to melt, begin whisking until it melts completely. Add the butter, and whisk until butter is melted and sauce is smooth. Remove from the heat, and slowly add the cream, whisking. When smooth, transfer to a glass container to cool completely.