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    Tuesday
    May042010

    Brown Sugar

    1. brown sugar 2. dark brown sugar 3. coffee sugar 4. raw sugar 5. muscovado sugar 6. demerara sugar

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    Brown sugar adds a wonderful richness, colour & depth of flavour to your baked goods. The most common type of brown sugar is produced with the addition of treacle (molasses) to refined white sugar, making it easy to whip up a batch of your own brown sugar if you find yourself without.

    To make brown sugar; for every cup of white sugar add 1 1/2 tablespoons of treacle (molasses) process in a food processor until thoroughly mixed and the sugar takes on the appearance of store bought brown sugar. Use and store as per normal.

    treacle + white sugar = brown sugar

    To make dark brown sugar; for every cup of white sugar add 3 tablespoons of treacle (molasses) process in a food processor until thoroughly mixed and the sugar takes on the appearance of store bought dark brown sugar. Use and store as per normal.

    Hard sugar; Brown sugar can lose moisture and become very hard, to soften a small amount of brown sugar add a wedge of apple or partial slice of bread to your sugar jar, seal the jar and leave overnight the sugar will adsorb the moisture from the apple/bread and become soft again. Remove the apple/bread & discard. Repeat when necessary. 

    seal a wedge of apple with your brown sugar overnight to soften your sugar

    To soften larger quantities of sugar, cover with several pieces of damp paper towel, seal tightly and leave overnight. Remove paper towel the next morning.

    For the "oh my god the sugar is hard as a rock and I need it NOW!!" moments; put the sugar in a microwave save bowl, cover with a single sheet of damp paper towel, seal the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap and microwave on high for 10 seconds, repeat until the sugar is soft enough to fluff with a fork. Use immediately.

    Muscovado sugar; A very moist minimally refined sugar with a strong distinctive flavour & aroma. Are you a Nigella fan in Australia and can't find muscovado sugar? You can in a pinch substitute brown sugar (you may need to add a little more fluid to your recipe too) but you are missing out on a real flavour treat. You can buy it online in Oz at The Essential Ingredient.  

    Golden caster sugar is another ingredient you will come across in cookbooks particularly from the UK, in Australia it's is sold as "raw caster sugar". The raw standard and caster sugar are partially refined cane sugar and impart a slight honey note/colour to your baked goods.

    golden caster sugar sold as raw caster sugar in Australia

    Demerara sugar; another "raw" sugar this partially refined sparkly sugar is lovely in coffee & imparts a crunchy sugar finish to the top of fruit pies, shortbreads etc. 

    Coffee sugar crystals; a large granule sugar to use as the name implies... "in your coffee". Also can be used for topping baked goods and desserts where a crunchy finish is desired.

    Happy Baking :)

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    Reader Comments (5)

    I had no idea you could make brown sugar from white sugar - thankyou!

    May 4, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterLazy Cook

    You welcome Lazy Cook :) Our local supermarket doesn't stock dark brown sugar so it comes in handy to make a batch up.

    May 5, 2010 | Registered CommenterThe Lone Baker

    Thank you! this is the only site to tell me straight what golden caster sugar is called in Australia!

    August 24, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterKASL

    This was so helpful! Thank you! I was looking in the supermarket today for golden caster sugar, and now I see we do have it! Shall be going back tomorrow! Also I saw a selection of muscovado sugars in Woolworths, maybe they are becoming more in demand, Yay!
    Thanks again.

    March 14, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterKath

    Hi. I'm confused as to what flavour is golden caster sugar. You describe raw caster sugar as honey note/colour but I've read somewhere that golden caster sugar is buttery flavour. Is that right?

    May 27, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAnni

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