Pearl sugar is granulated white sugar that has been processed into small, round grains that have been polished to a pearl-like sheen. Typically, pearl sugar is used in Scandinavia (and elsewhere) to decorate cookies, cakes, cinnamon rolls and much more. (from cooking.com)
So, my Swedish friend has been strongly hinting lately that I try making chokladbollar (chocolate balls in English). They are essentially a chocolate oatmeal no-bake pastry/cookie and the finishing touch is pearl sugar. Boy, I had no idea it would be so difficult to get pearl sugar! There are two kinds, Belgium and Swedish. The Belgium is larger and is a key ingredient in truly delicious (and traditional) Belgium waffles. It creates crunchy pockets of sweetness in the waffles. Swedish pearl sugar is smaller and as mentioned above, is often used as a finishing touch to delicacies.
I tried several specialty markets in the Chicago area with no luck. The markets usually suggested that I go to the web and eventually I relented and ordered some off of Amazon. (I just like to be able to see ingredients before I buy them and am leery of purchasing any food-stuff on the internet.)
In the end I got Lars’ Imported Swedish Pearl Sugar
So, hopefully by next weekend I’ll have a chokladbollar post for you!
