Baking is a skill that needs to be well harnessed in order to create masterpiece cakes, tarts and pastries. With this skill, a baker learns how the different ingredients influence the texture and the flavour of their baked masterpieces. Each ingredient has a specific purpose in the baking process thus it is essential to use the correct ingredient to ensure that the baked products are perfect according to the recipe. In this case, I want to have a look at the different types of sugar that is used in baking. Also, what type of sugar should you use for a specific baking recipe?
While there are many types of sugar, I will look at four types that are used in baking, namely castor, icing, brown and white sugar.
Castor sugar is commonly used in baking practices. It is a very fine sugar that resembles a powder-like substance. Castor sugar’s fine properties allow it to easily dissolve in the baking mix and enable it to melt quickly. This type of sugar is useful in baking products such as meringues, biscuits, cakes, sorbet and yoghurt.
Icing sugar is used in baking and is also known as confectioner’s sugar. Icing sugar is also a fine powdered sugar that can be used to dust or sprinkle over baked goods to add some sweetness or for decorative purposes. Icing sugar is used often to make icing or frosting for cake decoration. Add a bit of food colouring to the icing mixture and you can create marvelous decorative cakes.
Brown sugar is a sugar derived from surface molasses syrup which gives it a unique rich flavour. This type of sugar contains more moisture than white sugar so it tends to clump often. Due to its full flavour, it is often using in the baking of gingerbread, butterscotch, marinades and glazes.
White sugar is the most common type of sugar as we all use it our daily lives. It is a granular sugar that we use it in our coffee, tea or simply to sweeten any dish or drink we want to. White sugar also has its own purpose in baking. It keeps baked products moist and soft while giving it a sweet taste. It is often used in muffins, cookies, brownies, sponge cakes and much more.
While there are many different types these are the four more commonly sugars used in the baking industry because they each offer their own unique function to the different recipes.
