SUGARS

Sugars or sweetening agents have the following purposes in baking:
• They add sweetness and flavor.
• They create tenderness and fineness of texture, partly by weakening the
gluten structure.
• They give crust color.
• They increase keeping qualities by retaining moisture.
• They act as creaming agents with fats and as foaming agents with eggs.
• They provide food for yeast.
We customarily use the term sugar for regular refined sugars derived from
sugarcane or beets.The chemical name for these sugars is sucrose. However,
other sugars of different chemical structure are also used in the bakeshop.
Sugars belong to a group of substances called carbohydrates, a group that
also includes starches.There are two basic groups of sugars: simple sugars (or
monosaccharides, which means “single sugars”) and complex sugars (or disaccharides,
meaning “double sugars”). Starches, or polysaccharides, have
more complex chemical structures than sugars. Sucrose is a disaccharide, as
are maltose (malt sugar) and lactose (the sugar found in milk). Examples of
simple sugars are glucose and fructose.
All these sugars have different degrees of sweetness. For example, lactose
is much less sweet than regular table sugar (sucrose), while fructose (or fruit
sugar, one of the sugars in honey) is much sweeter than sucrose.

INVERT SUGAR
When a sucrose solution is heated with an acid, some of the sucrose breaks
down into equal parts of two simple sugars, dextrose and levulose. A mixture
of equal parts of dextrose and levulose is called invert sugar. It is about 30%
sweeter than regular sucrose.
Invert sugar has two properties that make it interesting to the baker. First,
it holds moisture especially well and, therefore, helps keep cakes fresh and
moist. Second, it resists crystallization. Thus, it promotes smoothness in
candies, icings, and syrups.This is why an acid such as cream of tartar is often
added to sugar syrups.The acid inverts some of the sugar when it is boiled,thus
preventing graininess in the candy or icing.
Invert sugar is produced commercially. It is also present in honey.

REGULAR REFINED SUGARS,
OR SUCROSE

Refined sugars are classified by the size of the grains. However, there is
no standard system of labeling, so the names of the various granulations
vary depending on the manufacturer.

Granulated Sugar
Regular granulated sugar, also called fine granulated or table sugar,
is the most familiar and the most commonly used.

Solid sugars (clockwise from top left:
10X sugar, brown sugar, regular granulated
sugar, superfine granulated sugar)
Very fine and ultrafine sugars (also called caster sugar) are finer than
regular granulated sugar. They are prized for making cakes and cookies
because they make a more uniform batter and can support higher
quantities of fat.
Sanding sugars are coarse and are used for coating cookies, cakes, and
other products.
In general, finer granulations are better for mixing into doughs and batters
because they dissolve relatively quickly. Coarse sugars are likely to leave
undissolved grains,even after long mixing. These show up after baking as dark
spots on crusts, irregular texture, and syrupy spots. Also, fine sugars are better
for creaming with fats because they create a finer, more uniform air cell
structure and better volume.
Coarse sugar, on the other hand, can be used in syrups, where its mixing
properties are not a factor. Even a very coarse sugar dissolves readily when
boiled with water. In fact,coarse crystalline sugar is often purer than fine sugar
and makes a clearer syrup.

Confectioners’ or Powdered Sugars
These sugars are ground to a fine powder and mixed with a small amount of
starch (about 3%) to prevent caking. They are classified by coarseness or
fineness.
10X is the finest sugar. It gives the smoothest textures in icings.
6X is the standard confectioners’ sugar. It is used in icings, toppings, and
cream fillings.
Coarser types (XXXX and XX) are used for dusting and for any purposes
for which 6X and 10X are too fine.
Confectioners’ sugar is also known as icing sugar because of its
importance in making many kinds of icings.

Dehydrated Fondant
Dehydrated fondant is not a powdered sugar, though its appearance is similar.
It is a dried form of fondant icing. During the manufacture of fondant, part of
the sucrose is changed to invert sugar.This helps keep the sugar crystals tiny,
which makes for a very smooth, creamy icing with a good shine.

Brown Sugar
Brown sugar is mostly sucrose (about 85 to 92%), but it also contains varying
amounts of caramel, molasses, and other impurities, which give it its
characteristic flavor. The darker grades contain more of these impurities.
Basically, brown sugar is regular cane sugar that has not been completely
refined. However, it can also be made by adding measured amounts of these
impurities to refined white sugar.
Brown sugar was, at one time, available in 15 grades, ranging from very
dark to very light.Today, only two to four grades are generally available.
Because it contains a small amount of acid, brown sugar can be used with
baking soda to provide some leavening (see p. 52). It is used in place of regular
white sugar when its flavor is desired and its color will not be objectionable.
Of course, it should not be used in white cakes.
Keep brown sugar in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out
and hardening.
Demerara sugar is a crystalline brown sugar. It is dry rather than moist
like regular brown sugar.Demerara sugar is sometimes used in baking, but it is
more often served as a sweetener with coffee and tea.

SYRUPS

Molasses
Molasses is concentrated sugarcane juice. Sulfured molasses is a
byproduct of sugar refining. It is the product that remains after most of
the sugar is extracted from cane juice. Unsulfured molasses is not a
byproduct but a specially manufactured sugar product. It has a less
bitter taste than sulfured molasses.
Molasses contains large amounts of sucrose and other sugars,
including invert sugar. It also contains acids, moisture, and other
constituents that give it its flavor and color. Darker grades are stronger
in flavor and contain less sugar than lighter grades.
Molasses retains moisture in baked goods and, therefore, prolongs
freshness.Crisp cookies made with molasses can become soft quickly because
the invert sugars absorb moisture from the air.

Corn Syrup
Corn syrup is a liquid sweetener consisting of water, a vegetable gum called
dextrin, and various sugars, primarily dextrose (also called glucose). Corn
syrup is made by converting cornstarch into simpler compounds through the
use of enzymes.
Corn syrup aids in retaining moisture and is used in some icings and
candies. It has a mild flavor and is not as sweet as granulated sugar (sucrose).

Glucose Syrup
While corn syrup contains sugars in addition to glucose, pure glucose syrup is
also available. It resembles corn syrup, is colorless and nearly tasteless and is
thicker than corn syrup. It has the same uses as corn syrup in the pastry shop
but is often preferred by pastry chefs because of its purity. If a recipe calls for
glucose syrup and none is available, substitute light corn syrup.

Honey
Honey is a natural sugar syrup consisting largely of the simple sugars glucose
and fructose, plus other compounds that give it its flavor. Honeys
vary considerably in flavor and color, depending on their source. Flavor is
the major reason for using honey, especially as it can be expensive.
Because honey contains invert sugar, it helps retain moisture in baked
goods. Like molasses, it contains acid, which means it can be used with baking
soda as a leavening.

Malt Syrup
Malt syrup, also called malt extract, is used primarily in yeast breads. It serves as
food for the yeast and adds flavor and crust color to the breads. Malt is extracted
from barley that has been sprouted (malted) and then dried and ground.
There are two basic types of malt syrup: diastatic and nondiastatic.
Diastatic malt contains a group of enzymes called diastase, which breaks
down starch into sugars that can be acted on by yeast. Thus, diastatic malt,
when added to bread dough, is a powerful food for yeast. It is used when
fermentation times are short. It should not be used when fermentation times
are long because too much starch will be broken down by the enzyme.This
results in bread with a sticky crumb.
Diastatic malt is produced with high, medium, or low diastase content.
Nondiastatic malt is processed at high temperatures that destroy the
enzymes and give the syrup a darker color and stronger flavor. It is used
because it contains fermentable sugar and contributes flavor, crust color, and
keeping qualities to breads.

Liquid sugars
Whenever malt syrup is called for in formulas in this book, nondiastatic
malt should be used. No formulas require diastatic malt. If malt syrup is not
available, you may substitute regular granulated sugar.
Malt is available in two other forms. Dried malt extract is simply malt syrup
that has been dried. It must be kept in an airtight container to keep it from
absorbing moisture from the air. Malt flour is the dried, ground, malted barley
that has not had the malt extracted from it. It is obviously a much less
concentrated form of malt.When used in bread making, it is blended with the
flour.