SAFFRON INFUSED SUGAR CUBES

Amber is beautiful, saffron is precious and so are dear, close friends. 

Back from her trip to the Middle East A had bought me a pack of these beautiful saffron infused sugar cubes in addition to two boxes of saffron threads, a beautiful, giant sized ornamental glass tazbih and...get this.... a pair of glamorous 'diamond' studded high heels. Wheeee ~

I had inadvertently earned the last by pure luck. A had bought the wrong size. Unfortunately  for Z or fortunately for me, depending on how you see it, it fitted me perfectly. So you see...size does matter. Now, all I need is a fairy god mother.

Aren't friends sweet? Thank you. Not just for the gifts but for being there. ~ :)

These precious sweet saffron infused sugar cubes I would revel in, in a cup of hot tea, when I am alone, curled up with a book on a couch so that I can sip and enjoy it in all its glory. They are far too precious to be used with gay abandon. 

I am enjoying a cuppa now. And it is infused with the fragrance of saffron. Love it :)

I can't get over how gloriously beautiful these sweet saffron infused sugar cubes are. Saffron are as precious as gold. "It takes about 80,000 crocus flowers to make 450 gm of this ancient spice....the most expensive of all spices, often more costly per gram than gold..... Saffron's name comes from the Arabic za'faran which means yellow and it's made form the fiery red stigma of the purple crocus" ~ Excerpt from Hugh Fearnly Wittingstall's article.

Here is a recipe I found here for making your own sugar cubes. I have not tried it but perhaps you would like to. Now I know how sugar cubes are made ~ I learn something everyday ~

DIY Sugar Cubes ~

2 cups sugar
1-2 tsp hot water
1-2 drops food colouring or flavour (in this case saffron)

Mix sugar, water and colouring. Make sure sugar is not sopping wet but just wet enough to hold its shape. Put into moulds, press into moulds, turn it over and tap it out of the mould.. let sugar cubes dry until hard. About 30 minutes to an hour. 

How easy is that?

I have plans for the saffron threads. I can't wait to play with them :)

And I have something else to share with you my friends. Something that I have been waiting for... for weeks. I will show it to you in my next post. I can't wait to share. You will be excited too. Perhaps you will want to get one too. Like I did when I saw it.  :)