Does your recipe call for brown sugar?
Be careful! Brown sugar here in South Africa is very different to brown sugar in America.
When you travel the world as a baker, one thing you will notice right away is that sugar is country dependent. What America calls sugar is not necessarily what South Africa does. This can make a massive difference in the kitchen, but especially for baking.
In the US we have three main types of sugar:
Regular Sugar — refined white sugar with fine granules, much like what South Africans call castor sugar. We do not have anything called castor sugar in the States.
Brown Sugar — has fine granules. It is most often refined white sugar that has had molasses added back. It is wet in texture and compactable. Finding this type of sugar proves difficult in South Africa.
Raw Sugar — this is what South Africans refer to as brown sugar. It has large granules and is not wet in texture. This type of sugar cannot be compacted.
When an American recipe calls for brown sugar, we are ALWAYS referring to refined soft brown sugar, not raw sugar.
Why does this matter?
As you can see above these sugars are vastly different. There are a few issues that pop up when baking:
- Texture…refined brown sugar is soft and compactable. When you press it into a cup the granules stick together. Because the grains are very fine, you can compact them more tightly and therefore fit way more sugar into the cup. When you read a recipe from the States and it calls for a cup of “packed” brown sugar, this is what they are referring to. You must press the grains tightly and fill the cup up as much as possible.
- Moisture…baking is a science. Every little thing makes a difference. However, with something as complex as cookies, the moisture in the sugar makes a major difference. Refined brown sugar is more hygroscopic (higher ambient moisture) than white sugar or traditional South African brown sugar. This WILL make a difference to your final product.
- Dissolvability…the smaller grains of sugar will dissolve faster. There is also some evidence that the impurities in refined brown sugar help it to dissolve faster. For recipes that require creaming or a short time in the oven, the ability of the granules to dissolve quickly and easily is important. (This is the reason you always want to bake with castor sugar and not regular sugar here in South Africa)
- Flavor...there is no question. The added molasses in refined brown sugar will have a completely different flavor than South African brown sugar. It will taste much more strongly of caramel and toffee, due to the added molasses. Also this is the big reason why you cannot just grind up South African brown sugar and think it will be the same.
Options here is South Africa
“Can’t I just use the Treacle or Demerara or Muscovado sugar?”
You can, but all of these, as they come here in South Africa, generally have large granules. This will not behave the same as American brown sugar in most baking.
“But Natasha, you CAN find this sugar! I found it at a baking shop that one time back in 2014.”
“I searched high and low, and finally found a bag.”
“I ordered from this one company and only waited ten days for it to ship”
Yes, yes, yes. If you search long enough you can find most things you need here in South Africa.
But what if you don’t want to search? What if you want to have the EXACT product you need in only 5 minutes, with ingredients you can find at any grocery store?
Well, then you make the recipe below and you stop all the searching.
Bonus: It is also cheaper than all those specialty sugars. All you need is just a bottle of molasses and some castor sugar.
Happy Baking!
Brown Sugar
Ingredients
- 1600 grams castor sugar
- 165 grams molasses
Instructions
- Place sugar and molasses in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Mix on medium speed until the sugar is golden and the molasses is mostly mixed in.
- Using a spatula scrap the sides of the bowl. Mix again until the molasses is fully incorporated into the sugar and there are no dark lumps remaining.
- Transfer to an air tight container and store at room temp indefinitely.