Flavored Sugars: A Rising Culinary Trend
Flavorists are always on the lookout for the next big flavored food item to hit store shelves. Currently, a rising trend has been spotted in the confectionery and dessert industry, with a number of manufacturers looking at flavored sugars.
While flavored sugars itself is nothing new, it has not seen the popularity it presently has. Flavored sugar products, often containing fruit flavored ingredients, as well as a variety of different spices, are being made available for use in everything from flavoring oatmeal to adding a sweet twist to gourmet coffees.
Flavored sugars can either be somewhat traditional in nature, mimicking favorite sugar blends such as cinnamon-sugar or cocoa and sugar, or it can offer an innovative twist by utilizing flavor ingredients, such as Advanced Biotech’s Natural Delta Undecalactone to create a coconut flavor, or Natural Citronellal to create a sweet but zesty lemon flavor.
Additionally, flavored sugar products have been made available with a savory twist. Taking advantage of the sweet and spicy trend, many flavored sugar products have been enhanced with spicy pepper flavors or even onion flavors, which can be used to create a number of different products – especially those with an Asian fusion component.
It still remains to be seen whether or not this rising flavor trend will take off in a big way, or whether it will remain an underground favorite among foodies. However, it is notable that the restaurant industry has already embraced these flavor ingredients, which can make it much easier to quickly create menu items utilizing both sugar and hints of the many different flavor ingredients that are available.
This particular niche industry is ripe for experimentation, and many flavorists are already looking to see how they can make waves with innovative new flavored sugar products. It will be interesting to see how this industry develops, and what new flavor combinations will be made available.