I have been practicing a little alchemy in the kitchen. My grand experiment involved sugar and fruit with the goal of vibrantly tainting the white crystals and adding flavor. It began with a quest to add a little oomph to the lavender sugar sprinkled on my homemade shortbread. The fragrant dried lavender flavor was wonderful it just needed some color. Heaven forbid I should use food coloring- I rummaged through my refrigerator for inspiration.
I started with a secret combination of butter, sugar and flour for the shortbread. While it was cooling I sprinkled on a concoction of lavender sugar- mashed up blueberries, sugar and dried lavender flowers. Blueberries turn sugar a nice shade of purple. Pomegranate juice colors sugar pink. Finely grated lemon, lime and orange peels are another option. To experiment with your own colored sugars, add just the tiniest amount of liquid to get the desired hue and then let the crystals dry overnight at room temperature before sprinkling on cookies or cakes.