Brown sugar!

I love my rock n roll, though I've never been a huge Stones fan. But for the past couple of, I haven't been able to get "Brown Sugar" out of my head.

It started when I popped into our local coffee shop, Cafe Javasti, for a sip. Javasti is known for its house-made scones, coffee cakes, and muffins. And I profess they have the best cupcakes in town (move aside, Cupcake Royale and Trophy).

On that morning, Javasti's pastry case had a brown-sugar cupcake with some kind of cream frosting (in my memory, I think it was cream cheese, but it could have been whipped cream or even sour cream and still sound luscious). It was too early in the morning for me to think straight, so I left the shop with only my Americano. I'm kicking myself for not trying one of those cupcakes.

It got me thinking: why don't we use brown sugar as a featured ingredient? It's the only type of sugar I heap, directly from the bag, into my mouth. 

Its moist, sensual molasses flavor and delicate, crumbly texture is screaming for star power.

So, what to concoct?

• There are the classics, like sugar cookies. 
• Perhaps I'll work brown sugar into my daytime drinks, stirring it into espresso -- a little heavy-handed so it comes out thick and syrupy. 
• And maybe there's room for brown sugar in night-time drinks -- like a brown-sugar-based whiskey sour. 
• There's savory: a spicy brown-sugar glaze for salmon.
• And semi-sweet: strawberries dipped in sour cream then brown sugar.
• I also want to take a stab at some of those cupcakes -- visions of swirling brown sugar cakes dance in my head. 

What else would you suggest? It's up to us to set the next trendy, hot ingredient. Let's put brown sugar on center stage.