Nearly 25 years ago, not long after she founded her specialty foods company, Golden Fig owner Laurie Crowell created a product line that was inspired by her father's sweet tooth.
"He's a huge fan of lefse, which he would top with cinnamon and sugar," she says. "One day he said, 'I wish there were other flavors,' and that got me thinking, 'Why aren't there?' "
That light-bulb moment led to the development of a wide assortment of infused sugars, which insert festive flavors into cane sugar. Some combinations include cranberries, orange peel and a hint of nutmeg; Wisconsin-raised cherries mixed with cardamom pods; and a gingerbread-inspired blend that's perfumed with clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, maple and fenugreek.
Their uses extended beyond dressing up lefse. Sprinkle them on oatmeal. Stir them into coffee, tea or lemonade. Use them to embellish the rim of a cocktail glass. Treat them as flavor boosters in pound cakes, muffins, fruit crisps, waffles and pancakes.
In one of her favorite kitchen cheater moves, Crowell relies upon them to decorate the cookies that she bakes — invariably, at the last minute — for her family on Christmas Eve.
"Every year, I have every intention of making all of the beautiful, fancy Martha Stewart cookies," she says. "And every year, I end up buying sugar cookie dough and sprinkling it with these sugars. I beat myself up over it, but then I remember that there's a lot going on during the holidays. Besides, my kids think that they're fantastic."
Golden Fig infused sugars
$8 per bottle at Golden Fig, 794 Grand Av., St. Paul (goldenfig.com), and at some Lunds & Byerlys stores.
