Preserving sugar....

Pearl sugar arrived from KA yesterday so this morning the Bride of Frankenstein waffle experiment continues.

There also exists sugar that is called "jam sugar" and is used for preserves, jams and such,and it is composed of pure white sugar, pectin and citric acid. I've seen different ratios such as Jam sugar 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, with the ratios indicating fruit and sugar respectively. I believe the pectin amount also differs because the higher ratio ones are said to be good for "less sweet" jams. I am sure this is not the sugar you need for the waffles, I just thought this was a good thread to mention this as a side note.
Wiener brand is the one I've seen (Viennese sugar)

Don't know if you already had your waflles,but here it goes:If you can find a Brazilian store nearby,go in there and ask for some "açúcar cristal".We use it a lot for syrups and decorating candies made out of condensed milk...Soon I'll add the recipe for the most popular of them:Brigadeiro!It's chocolate heaven!

When I read your question, "Weissbier" ("white beer" in German) immediately came to mind. We can get Franziskaner Weissbier locally with no difficulty. I think I saw it at Trader Joe's recently. It's a decent, light colored Bavarian. Here's more from Wiki:

Weissbier (German: "white beer", usually spelled Weißbier; see ß), also known as Weizenbier ("wheat beer"), is a Bavarian specialty beer in which a significant proportion of malted barley is replaced with malted wheat: a wheat beer. By German law, Weissbiers brewed in Germany must be top-fermented.[1] Specialized strains of yeast are used which produce overtones of banana and clove as by-products of fermentation.

I really have never noticed bananas and cloves when drinking the stuff, however. ;o)

Thank you, my friends. I was able to order pearl/preserving sugar from King Arthur, I needed to reorder high gluten flour anyway. Now I can work on the white beer.

Brother T, thanks for the info on "wit bier", the recipe does mention hoergaarden but I (not being a beer aficianado) wasn't sure if it was a lable or a style of beer. The last time I made waffles I topped them with turbinado sugar which I carmelized with a blow torch.

"wit bier" would be something like hoergaarden white ale and the above answers and info all cover the preserving sugar. Just think of that big chunky sugar you find on jellies and you know what preserving sugar is.

I have actually noticed that in a lot of European recipes "Preserving Sugar" is generally natural cane sugar. I lived in Europe whilst my husband worked overseas- and I found that caster sugar is what is used as "sugar" and preserving sugar refers to cane sugar.

SDEBRANGO is right the preserving sugar is large crystal cane sugar. But most recipes that call for preserving sugar will also call for it to be warmed in the oven, so it can assimilate with the fruit faster. It can help in reducing scum, but I have found in jamming that scum has more to do with the quality of fruit, water content in said fruit, and gently heating it before turning up the temperature.

A question about the waffle recipe: after you scoop the batter onto the waffle iron, are you supposed to the top of the batter with some of the preserving sugar? I ask because good Belgian waffles are made by coating the waffle in what I think is usually called pearl sugar: it's opaque white, the pieces are the size of pebbles, and it looks a bit scary. The idea is to dot the waffle with pieces of this sugar, so that the sugar caramelizes under the heat of the waffle iron and coat the waffle in burnt caramel. Pretty delicious. Here's a link to pearl sugar, so you can see what it looks like: http://www.belgianpearlsugar.com/

If the above is a red herring, then on a completely opposite note, here's a description of preserving sugar I found on a baking website:

PRESERVING SUGAR: This type of sugar has the largest crystals which dissolve quickly when stirred into a liquid, this reduces the risk of the sugar burning. Preserving sugar dissolves quicker than granulated sugar. Used in jams, jellies, marmalades and pickles where it dissolves quickly to give a good set.

This suggests that preserving sugar has large crystals but dissolves quickly. Sounds confusing to me, but I'm no scientist.

Good luck!

@boulangere, until I did a search on google i never knew what preserving sugar was, I had heard of white beer a local beer garden in my nabe has it. I thought you just use regular granulated sugar when preserving, I would never have known.

Very interesting on the sugar and beer, sdebrango. I was way, way off base.

This recipe might help you with your waffle quest: http://www.food52.com/recipes/13853_gaufres_de_lieges_belgian_waffles_from_lieges

Boulangere, I have turbinado, cane sugar, "bakers'" sugar and confectioner's sugar. I'm inclined to use the bakers'. For the beer, the recipe does list one lable but I can consult my friend on that part, and I do have to be back down in LA next week so I can provision up.

Here is what wikipedia say's it is:

Preserving sugar is a kind of sugar used for making marmalades, jams and preserves using fruits that are naturally high in pectin (such as plums, redcurrants, blackcurrants, gooseberries, greengages, damsons and Seville oranges). The large sugar crystals dissolve more slowly than those of standard granulated sugar and do not settle in the bottom of the pot or rise up as froth to the surface. This reduces the risk of burning and the consequent need for stirring. It also allows impurities to rise for easier skimming. Because it minimises scum, it helps to make jams (UK) / jellies (USA) clearer.
Preserving sugar differs from gelling sugar, because the latter contains pectin while preserving sugar is 100% sugar.
White beer at least in NYC is pretty easily found. Beer stores that carry a large selection especially international beers would most likely have it. In my search I found the Sam Adams also makes a white beer.
Here are some brands of white beer in case you decide to search it out:
White Ale - Hitachino Nest, Japan
Blanche de Brooklyn - Brooklyn Brewery, NY
Witte - Ommegang, NY
Wahoo Wheat - Ballast Point, CA
White Rascal - Avery, CO
Wittekerk - Belgium
Blanche De Chambly - Unibroue, Quebec

Preserving sugar makes me think of 10x, you know, such as you'd use to encase the world's one true fruitcake, but that sounds totally wrong for something like waffles.

What types of sugar do you have on hand? And what are you going to do about the white beer?