Sugar and Sweeteners Information Center

Sugar (Fr.sucre) and other sweeteners serve several purposes in the bakeshop: They provide flavor and color, tenderize products by weakening gluten strands, provide food for yeasts, serve as a preservative and act as a creaming or foaming agent to assist with leavening.

Sugar
Sugars are carbohydrates. They are classified as either (1) single or simple sugars (monosaccharides), such as glucose and fructose, which occur naturally in honey and fruits, or (2) double or complex sugars (disaccharides), which may occur naturally, such as lactose in milk, or in refined sugars.

The sugar most often used in the kitchen is sucrose, a refined sugar obtained from both the large tropical grass called sugar cane (saccharum officinarum) and the root of the sugar beet (beta vulvaris). Sucrose is a disaccharide, composed of one molecule each of glucose and fructose. The chemical composition of beet and cane sugars is identical. The two products taste, look, smell and react the same. Sucrose is available in many forms: white granulated, light or dark brown granulated, molasses and powdered.

Sugar Manufacturing
Common refined or table sugar is produced from sugar cane or sugar beets. The first step in sugar production is to crush the cane or beet to extract the juice. This juice contains tannins, pigments, proteins and other undesirable components that must be removed through refinement.

Refinement begins by dissolving the juice in water, then boiling it in large steam evaporators. The solution is then crystallized in heated vacuum pans. The uncrystallized liquid byproduct, known as molasses, is separated out in a centrifuge. The remaining product, known as raw sugar, contains may impurities; the USDA considers it unfit for direct use in food.
Raw sugar is washed with steam to remove some of the impurities. This yields a product known as turbinado sugar. Refining continues as the turbinado is heated, liquefied, centrifuged and filtered. Chemicals may be used to bleach and purify the liquid sugar. Finally, the clear liquid sugar is recrystallized in vacuum pans as granulated white sugar.
Pure sucrose is sold in granulated and powdered forms and is available in several grades. Because there are no government standards regulating grade labels, various manufacturers' product may differ slightly.

Turbinado Sugar
Turbinado sugar, sometimes called Demerara sugar, is the closest consumable product to raw sugar. It is partially refined, light brown in color, with coarse crystals and a caramel flavor. It is sometimes used in beverages and certain baked goods. Because of its high and variable moisture content, turbinado sugar is not recommended as a substitute for granulated or brown sugar.

Sanding Sugar
Sanding sugar has a large, course crystal structure that prevents it from easily. It is used almost exclusively for decorating cookies and pastries.

Regular Granulated Sugar
This is the all-purpose sugar used throughout the kitchen. The crystals are a fine, uniform size suitable for a variety of purposes.

Cube Sugar
Sugar cubes are formed by pressing moistened granulated sugar into molds and allowing it to dry. Cube sugar is most often used for beverage service.

Brown Sugar
Brown sugar is simply regular refined sugar with some of the molasses returned to it. Light brown sugar contains approximately 3.5% molasses; dark brown sugar contains about 6.5%. Molasses adds moisture and a distinctive flavor. Brown sugar can be substituted for refined sugar, measure for measure, in any formulas where its flavor is desired.

Because of the added moisture, brown sugar tends to lump, trapping air into pockets. It should be measured by weight or, it measured by volume, it should be packed firmly into the measuring cup in order to remove any air pockets. Always store brown sugar in an airtight container to prevent it from drying and hardening.

Superfine or Castor Sugar
Superfine sugar is granulated sugar with a smaller-sized crystal. Also known as castor sugar, it can be produced by processing regular granulated sugar in a food processor for a few moments. Superfine sugar dissolves quickly in liquids and produces light and tender cakes.

Powdered or Confectioner's Sugar
Powdered sugar (Fr. sucre en poudre) is made by grinding granulated sugar crystals through varying degrees of fine screens. Powdered sugar cannot be made in a food processor. It is widely available in three degrees of fineness: 10X is the finest and most common; 6X and 4X are progressively coarser. Because of powdered sugar's tendency to lump, 3% cornstarch is added to absorb moisture. Powdered sugar is most often used in icings and glazes and for decorating baked products.

Liquid Sweeteners
Except for leavening, liquid sweeteners can be used to achieve the same benefits as sugar in baked goods. Most of these liquids have a distinctive flavor as well as sweetness. Some liquid sweeteners are made from sugar cane; others are derived from other plants, grains or bees.

Corn Syrup
Corn syrup is produced by extracting starch from corn kernels and treating it with acid or an enzyme to develop a sweet syrup. This syrup is extremely thick or viscous and less sweet tasting than honey or refined sugar. Its viscosity gives foods a thick, chewy texture.

Corn syrup is available in light and dark forms; the dark syrup has caramel color and flavor added. Corn syrup is a hygroscopic (water-attracting) sweetener, which means it will attract water from the air on humid days and lose water through evaporation more slowly than granulated sugar. Thus, it keeps products moister and fresher longer.

Honey
Honey (Fr. miel) is a powerful sweetener consisting of fructose and glucose. It is created by honeybees from nectar collected from flowers. Its flavor and color vary depending on the season, the type of flower the nectar came from and its age. Commercial honey is often a blend, prepared to be relatively neutral and consistent. Like corn syrup, honey is highly hygroscopic. Its distinctive flavor is found in several ethnic foods such as baklava and halvah, and beverages such as Drambuie and Benedictine.

Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is made from the sap of sugar maple trees. Sap is collected during the spring, then boiled to evaporate its water content, yielding a sweet brown syrup. One sugar maple tree produces about 12 gallons of sap each season: 30-40 gallons of sap will produce 1 gallon of syrup. Pure maple syrup must weigh not less than 11 pounds per gallon; it is graded according to color, flavor and sugar content.

The more desirable products, Grades AA and A, have a light amber color and delicate flavor. Pure maple syrup is expenses, but it does add a distinct flavor to baked goods, frostings and, of course, pancakes and waffles. Maple-flavored syrups, often served with pancakes, are usually corn syrups with artificial colorings and flavorings added.

Molasses
As mentioned earlier, molasses (Fr. melasse) is the liquid byproduct of sugar refining. Edible molasses is derived only from cane sugar, as beet molasses has an unpleasant odor and bitter flavor. Unsullfured molasses is not a true byproduct of sugar making. It is intentionally produced from pure cane syrup and is preferred because of is lighter color and milder flavor. Sulfured molasses is a by product and contains some of the sulfur dioxide used in secondary sugar processing. It is darker and has a strong, bitter flavor.
The final state of sucrose refinement yields blackstrap molasses, which is somewhat popular in the American South. Blackstrap molasses is very dark and thick, with a strong, unique flavor that is unsuitable for most purposes.
Sorghum molasses is produced by cooking down the sweet sap of a brown corn plant, known as sorghum, which is grown for animal feed. The flavor and appearance of sorghum molasses are almost identical to unsulfured sugar cane molasses.

Nutrition
Sweeteners are carbohydrates. They are high in calories and contain no fiber, protein, fat, vitamin a or vitamin C. They contain only trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin and niacin.

Cooking Sugar
Sugar can be incorporated into a prepared item in its dry form or first liquefied into a syrup. Sugar syrups (not to be confused with liquid sweeteners such as molasses) take two forms: simple syrups, which are made of melted sugar cooked until it reaches a specific temperature. Be extremely careful when working with a hot sugar syrup. Because sugar reaches very high temperatures, it can cause severe burns.