Do you ever make infused sugar? If you mix spices with sugar and store it in an airtight jar for a while, the aromas of the spices can infuse into the sugar. This works well with vanilla, for example. If you use a vanilla bean, you can put the bean you have left after scraping out the seeds into a jar with sugar. The bean still contains many essential oils, which are absorbed by the sugar. This way, after a few days, you'll have the most delicious homemade vanilla sugar.

This works best with 'dry' sugars. So use granulated sugar, not caster sugar. If you grind the spices finely and then mix them with the sugar, the flavors will be stronger. If you place whole spices in the sugar and let the aromas infuse that way, the flavors will remain more subtle.

Combinations like sugar with vanilla, sugar with cinnamon, or even sugar with cloves might be obvious, but of course, you can make it as funky as you like. How about Sichuan sugar? Delicious in combination with baked peaches and some whipped cream.