Sultana Raisins

Sultanas are pale seedless raisins, light amber rather than brown, and softer than almost any other raisin on the shelf. The taste is gentle and honeyed with very little acidity, and the texture is yielding rather than chewy, which is why they are the raisin most people picture in a scone or a bowl of muesli.

Sultanas and Thompson raisins are both seedless, and this is where the two part company. Sultanas are made from green seedless grapes and stay pale and tender, so they read as sweet and mild. Our Thompson raisins are dried further, until they go deep golden brown and the sugars concentrate into a darker, more caramelised flavour with a firmer chew. If you want the fruit to stay soft and light, take the sultanas; if you want depth, take the Thompsons.

How to use them

This is the everyday baking raisin: scones, Eccles cakes, hot cross buns, bread pudding, fruit loaf, oat cookies, muesli, granola and trail mix. In savoury cooking they suit couscous with pine nuts, Sicilian caponata and sweet and sour cabbage, and they carry well in pilau and biryani, in korma and in South Asian chutney. They soften in seconds, so add them late to anything simmering, or plump them briefly in warm water or tea before folding into a batter.

Details

Also known as

Sultanas, sultana raisins, dried white grapes, kishmish, sultana dried grapes, seedless raisins, raisins sultana, passas sultanas