We all love sugar! It’s what makes our treats even sweeter and transforms our good desserts into amazing ones. Sugar is a tried and true ingredient that never seems to be altered in any way to make it better. However, as everything evolves, so does sugar! In recent years, the popular sweetener got even better through the discovery of toasted sugar.
Toasting your sugar is a simple concept that somehow got overlooked for over 900 years! It wasn’t until 2016 when Stella Parks, a cookbook author and baker, accidentally left a tray of sugar in her oven while she turned it on low to help heat up her basement kitchen. The result was a tray of caramel coloured sugar that tasted amazing!
Although the process of toasting sugar is pretty easy, it does take some time to get it right. The process takes anywhere between one to five hours, depending on what kind of toasted sugar you are trying to achieve. If you toast your sugar for two hours, it will become a light golden colour with a subtly enhanced flavour. If you toast your sugar for five hours, it will produce something that is similar to muscovado sugar.
Why You Need To Start Toasting Your Sugar
The flavour of granulated white sugar becomes rich and complex when you heat it for up to five hours in an oven with low heat. When sugar is heated, the sucrose is broken down into fructose and glucose (simple sugars). They are then dehydrated and transform their flavour into a nutty, caramel flavour that is golden brown in colour.
Many people assume that toasting and caramelizing sugar is the same, but it’s actually quite different. When you caramelize sugar, you cook the sugar on the stovetop, let it harden, then run it through a food processor. Doing this method in place of toasting your sugar will end up with more alkalined sugar that becomes hard to use in most recipes. The chemistry of toasted sugar is still pretty much the same as granulated sugar, so you can use it as you would in any recipe.
How To Use Toasted Sugar
After you toast your sugar, the fun can begin! Show off your new sugar in a recipe that will blow the minds of your family and friends. Although toasted sugar is a tasty sweetener, the flavour is subtle, so it won’t shine in busy recipes, such as chocolate chip cookies. You will want to try simple recipes to make your toasted sugar the featured ingredient. Try using it in a meringue, simple syrup, marshmallows, whipped cream or angel food cake.
Sweet Treats at Sweet E’s Darling Desserts
If you are looking for a fun birthday cake for your next party or just craving something sweet to indulge in this weekend, visit Sweet E’s Darling Pastries in Vancouver today! We have various tasty cakes, tarts and cookies available!
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