The Unexpected Garlic Twist That Works In Sweet Recipes

Garlic isn't usually part of the standard lineup of ingredients like sugar, vanilla, and eggs in sweet recipes. It's more likely to be in a recipe for savory meals like cheesy baked ziti or a restaurant-style homemade salsa. But you can use garlic in cakes, cookies, and other recipes for sweets if you know what to do. You won't want to just toss in a handful of minced, fresh garlic, like you would if you were making stir-fry or some other savory dish for dinner. Even roasted garlic will create too heavy a presence for most sweet recipes. Instead, use black garlic in sweet recipes for an unexpected and rich twist on standard favorites.

Black garlic is a sticky, fermented, and aged version of regular garlic. It tastes milder than fresh garlic and has more umami flavors, alongside earthy and slightly tangy tones, and notes of molasses, soy sauce, and licorice. It's used to add an "it factor" to recipes like beet aguachile, used in soups and sauces, and creates a sweet garlic butter for spreading on steak, potatoes and garlic bread. It's a wonderful addition to lots of dishes, but black garlic's secret superpower is its ability to create unique flavor profiles in sweet treats like brownies, cakes, and more.

Black garlic taste magical alongside fall flavors like cinnamon, caramel, and pumpkin. These flavors complement the warm caramel, molasses, and licorice notes that come with black garlic. You can add it to classic desserts that already have these sugary, toffee-style flavors for a twist on tradition. Put black garlic in the graham cracker crust and in the creamy center of a cheesecake for a black garlic, ginger, and lime cheesecake. Make a batch of fudgy brownie cake pops and add some black garlic into the batter for an extra touch. You can add black garlic to cookies and ice cream, donuts, chocolate mousse, and more.

You can make your own black garlic, but you can also buy whole black garlic and black garlic powder online or at supermarkets. It's a good addition to the stash of spices in your pantry and you'll be surprised how much use it'll get. Black garlic adds a little something extra to more than just edible desserts and sweet recipes: It's also great in drinks. Make black garlic hot chocolate or combine black garlic in Irish cream liqueur recipes, including a flavorful and nuanced chocolate martini.

Black garlic is regular garlic that has been aged for a few weeks until the cloves transform. Instead of the white, pungent, and aggressive flavor of raw garlic, these aged garlic cloves turn black. As they age, the cloves take on a stickier texture, the pungent notes mellow and the garlic develops sweeter flavors. Aging garlic is a straightforward process that starts by picking unpeeled garlic from the grocery store. You can use regular garlic, or what is known as "pearl garlic" or solo garlic — garlic made up of one, giant clove. You'll put your cleaned, unpeeled garlic in a nest of paper towels to make black garlic in a rice cooker. Choose a cooker with an extended keep warm function, turn it on warm, and monitor it for around eight to 10 days.

You can also make black garlic in a dehydrator, like this eight-tray food dehydrator. You will have to place unpeeled garlic into a sealed ½ gallon canning jar before you put it in the dehydrator to lock in moisture while it heats. Keep the jar in your dehydrator for 3-4 weeks at 158-176 degrees Fahrenheit. A tip for anyone making black garlic at home: It is a smelly process no matter the method; use dedicated equipment if you can and conduct the process in an open-air environment if possible.