If you are an avid baker, then you will know that there is more to sugar than just white and brown. Of course, there is powdered sugar which is often used for thickening and sweetening icing, but there is still more beyond these three commonly used sugars in baking. Let us learn more about the other kinds of sugars that can be used in making your baked goodies, what their characteristics are, and what they are good for.
Coarse Sugar – this is sugar that is similar in look and flavor as regular granulated sugar, with one distinct difference – coarse sugar comes in larger crystals. Think about sugar in sea salt sized crystals. This kind of sugar is often used to give cookies and cakes a different kind of texture. This is also oftentimes colored and used as decoration. You will find this particular type of sugar used to decorate the top of cookies and cakes in a crystal like burst of colored sweetness.
Caster Sugar – this particular white sugar variant is used mostly in the creation of delicate desserts, like mousses and puddings. This is because it is a very fine crystalline sugar that does not require a lot of work to dissolve. This is also a great sweetener for those non-cook desserts that you make every now and then, as well as for sweetening drinks with. Still considered a granulated kind of sugar, this is the finest of the granulated white sugar variants.
Turbinado – this raw sugar option is often found being used by coffee shops as a substitute for granulated white sugar. You can find these usually in packets with the word “raw sugar” on it. Similar to brown sugar, but lighter in flavor and color, turbinado is used us cookies and cakes to give it a more brittle and crisp texture but without the strong molasses-like flavor that brown sugar gives.
Muscovado – if you want a flavor that is more intense, then muscovado is what you should choose. This is called the “brown sugar on steroids” due to its strong aroma and flavor, although it is still milder than molasses. This sugar can be used as a substitute for brown sugar, but be warned. This sugar is also rather expensive when compared with brown sugar, so use only when you think it will benefit your product perfectly. Also, due to its unrefined nature, you will need to sift this before using since there are usually some sugar pebbles and nubs in it.
