CHAPTER 8: SUGAR AND OTHER SWEETENERS Flashcards
Most common sweetener in the bakeshop?
Granulated sugar
Two main categories for sweeteners. Is there a third?
Dry crystalline sugars and syrups. Third is specialty sweeteners.
Although less commonly used and often expensive, what fulfills needs that cannot easily be met by the common sweeteners?
Specialty sweeteners.
Sugar generally means what?
Sucrose, the most common sugar in a bakeshop.
Other sugars (besides sucrose) include what?
Fructose, glucose, maltose and lactose.
Can fructose, sucrose, glucose, maltose and lactose all be purchased in dry white crystal?
Yes, although, except for sucrose, it is more common to purchase them in syrup form.
What is the most abundant sugar in nature?
Glucose
Does glucose have an abundance of names?
Yes
Glucose is typically called what when purchased as dry crystalline sugar?
Dextrose
Dextrose is added to many processed food products such as…
Cake mixes, chocolate chips, sausages, and hot dogs.
Dextrose provides many of the properties of sugar with less what?
Sweetness
Commercially, the main source of crystalline dextrose is what?
Corn
What is sometimes called corn sugar?
Dextrose
Is glucose present in nearly all ripened fruit?
Yes
The presence of glucose in what is essential to the fermentation of grapes to wine? What do winemakers call glucose?
Grapes, this is why winemakers call glucose grape sugar.
Is blood sugar another name for glucose? Why?
Yes, it is the sugar that flows through the bloodstream.
Is glucose shorthand for glucose syrup? What’s it commonly called in the United States?
Yes, commonly called corn syrup in the US because it is usually derived from cornstarch.
Does glucose corn syrup contain only glucose?
No, it does contain a certain amount of the monosaccharide but generally contains significant amounts of other components as well, so the name is somewhat misleading.
What other syrups contain the monosaccharide glucose?
Honey, molasses, invert syrup, and malt syrup.
Historically, were glucose corn syrups manufactured for the glucose they contained?
Yes, so while misleading, the name is logical.
All sugar are classified as what?
Simple carbohydrates
What are simple carbohydrates at a molecular level?
Molecules that consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms arranged in a specific way.
After simple carbohydrates, sugars are further classified as what?
Monosaccharides or disaccharides.
What are monosaccharides?
Consist of one (mono) sugar unit (saccharide) and are considered simple sugars.
What are the two main monosaccharides?
Glucose and fructose, although there are others.
Are fructose and glucose naturally present in many ripened fruits?
Yes
The skeletal molecular structure of the monosaccharide glucose is sometimes shown as what?
Hexagon
The skeletal molecular structure of the monosaccharide fructose is sometimes shown as what?
Pentagon
Why do the skeletal figures overlook the true complexity of sugar molecules?
For one, they don’t show the carbon, hydrogen or oxygen atoms that form the structure of the molecules.
Disaccharides consist of what?
Two sugar units bonded together.
What’s maltose, or malt sugar, an example of?
Disaccharide
Maltose consists of how many glucose molecules?
2
Maltose is commonly found in what?
Glucose corn syrup and malt syrup.
Is lactose (milk sugar) a mono or disaccharide?
Disaccharide only found in dairy products.
Is sucrose a mono or disaccharide?
Disaccharide
Sucrose consists of what molecules?
One molecule of glucose bonded to fructose.
In addition to mono and disaccharides, two other main classifications of carbohydrates are?
Oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
Oligosaccharides are made of what?
A few (oligo)sugar units, usually three to ten, bonded in a chain.
The sweetener industry calls oligosaccharides what?
Higher saccharides or dextrins.
Are dextrins and higher saccharides found in many syrups in the bakeshop?
Yes
Polysaccharides are what?
Very large molecules made up of many (poly), often thousands, of sugar units.
What are starch and inulin?
Polysaccharides
The sugar units in starch are what?
Glucose
The sugar units in inulin are primarily what?
Fructose
Sugar crystals are highly ordered arrangements of what?
Sugar molecules bonded together.
Why do sugar crystals form?
Sugar molecules of the same type are attracted to one another.
When would crystal growth be desirable and undesirable?
Desirable when making rock candy, undesirable when making nut brittle, pulled sugar, or smooth and creamy fondant icings.
What is a centrifuge?
A piece of equipment, generally driven by an electric motor (or, in some older models, by hand), that puts an object in rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis.
For the most part, are sugar crystals pure? What does this mean?
Yes, this means that crystals of sucrose consist entirely of sucrose, even when they form from syrups that contain a mix of the sugars. The mix just makes it more difficult for crystals to form, because it makes it difficult for molecules of the same type to come together.
Do sugar crystals need to be bleached?
No, because they’re pure sugar crystals are naturally white in color.
Why are some crystals off white?
Impurities are trapped between the crystals.
Are all sugars hygroscopic?
Yes
What is hygroscopic?
To attract and bond to water.
Is sugar typically more attracted to water than proteins, starches, and gums?
Yes, sugar will pull water away from these structure builders and driers.
When sugar pulls water away from structure builders and driers, what happens to dough? Explain.
It softens and thins out. The proteins, starches and gums are no longer able to hydrate, trapping and holding water. Instead, the water is released to sugar, forming a thin syrup as part of the batter or dough.
Highly hygroscopic sugars, such as fructose, readily pick up what from moist air?
water
When are hygroscopic sugars called humectants?
When they are used to keep certain products (such as cookies or icings) soft or stop them from cracking, dulling or drying.
When is sugars hygroscopic nature undesirable?
When a dusting of powdered sugar on doughnuts liquefies; when the surface of cookies, cakes, and muffins becomes gummy or soggy; or when spun or pulled sugar becomes sticky and collapses.
Is sucrose naturally present in maple tree sap, palm tree sap, dates, ripe bananas, and many other ripened fruits?
Yes
Commercial production of sucrose involves removing and purifying what from where?
Natural sucrose from sugarcane or from sugar beets.
Are various forms of dry crystalline sugar available?
Yes, each differing primarily in granulation or particular size.
Some crystalline sugar contain extra ingredients such as…
Molasses or cornstarch.
Names of sugar can refer to particular size of crystals, use, or to the user. Give examples.
Superfine, extrafine,sanding sugar, confectioners’ sugar, baker’s special sugar.
Going from largest to smallest in particle size.
Coarse, regular, superfine, 6X powdered, 10X powdered, fondant sugar.
Regular granulated sugar is also called what?
Fine or extrafine sugar.
In Canada, granulated sugar is mostly purified from what?
Sugar cane.
In Europe, sugar is mostly purified from what?
Sugar beets.
In the U.S.S, sugar is mostly purified from what?
Half sugar cane and half sugar beets.
Is sugar cane a tall reedy grass?
Yes
Where was sugar cane first cultivated? How long ago?
The South Pacific at least eight thousand years ago.
Where did sugar cane migrate after the South Pacific?
West, to India, then China and Persia (Iran), countries that have extracted and purified sugar from the cane for the past 2 or three thousand years.
Were Europeans relatively late in using cane sugar? What did they use instead?
Yes, they relied more on available sweeteners such as ripened fruit and honey.
When was sugar cane introduced to Europe?
During the Crusades in the eleventh and twelve centuries.
What was considered so precious in Europe that it was used in mostly medicine?
Sugar
Why was sugar cane under the control of Arab traders for many years?
It’s tropical and doesn’t grow well in Europe.
What did the Spanish and Portuguese do for the cultivation of sugar cane?
They brought it into Africa and the New World, which made it readily available throughout Europe.
Although still a luxury, when was sugar used in confectionery and in coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.
By the 1600s.
By the 1800s, what changed in sugar?
Refining methods were improved and prices came down, making it readily available to the middle class.
When was the use of beets for sugar used?
A more recent development, first commercialized by a Prussian (German) chemist in the 1700s.
Who adopted and refined the process of sugar beet manufacturing? Why?
The French in the early 1800s, when the Napoleonic Wars created a need for a domestic source of this important ingredient.
Besides Napoleonic Wars, what else drove interest in sugar beet cultivation?
The antislavery movement in Europe and the Americas, because sugar beets grow in temperate climates without extensive labor.
Over the years, have sugar beets been selectively bred to contain high amounts of sucrose?
Yes
How much sucrose do today’s beets contain compared to the 1700s?
17% sucrose, over twice the amount from 1700s, and slightly more than sugar cane.
Predominant source of sugar in Europe?
Sugar beets.
Regualr granulated sugar from with sugar beets or cane is more than what % pure sucrose?
99.9
For most practical applications. is sugar refined in Norht America from either source used interchangeably?
Yes
Can even very small amounts of impurities cause undesirable crystallization and browning in sugar confectionary?
Yes
What’s the solution for impurities causing browning and undesirable crystallization? Why?
Add or increase the amount of cream of tartar to the formula. Cream of tartar and other acids prevent both crystallization and browning by lowering pH.
Today, is there a trend towards using sugars that have not gone through the complete refining process?
Yes
What are these trendy sugars called?
They go by many names, but mostly they are called evaporated cane juice or natural cane juice crystals.
What’s “wrong” with trendy sugars?
They have been refined through one–rather than three–washings and centrifuge cycles. They have also not been filtered or decolorized.
Sometimes called first crystallization sugar, these sugars retain a small amount of ______-_______ refiners’ syrup–generally less than __%. They have a pale ______ color and very ______ flavor, much closer to regular granulated sugar than to brown sugar.
lightly-colored, 2%, gold, mild
Will first crystallization sugars function in baked goods as regular granulated sugar?
Yes, except for a slight off-white cast they give to light-colored products.
Are semi-refined sugars often marketed as a substitute for granulated sugar to natural foods industry?
Yes, and they can be made to various granulation sizes, just like regular granulated sugar.
Organic cane sugars, that is, sugar made from sugar cane grown organically, are often sold ____-_____.
semi-refined
Do semi-refined sugars, including organic versions, have added health benefits?
No, they just cost three times more.
The manufacturing of white sugar involves what two basic steps?
The production or the milling of the raw sugar from cane or beets, and the refining of the indelible, raw sugar into white sugar.
Are the specifics of processing cane and beets somewhat different?
Yes, but in both cases sucrose is not changed chemically.
Through a series of what steps, is sucrose physically separated from impurities?
Filtration, crystallization, washing, and centrifugation.
First step of milling cane sugar?
Crushing freshly harvested sugarcane and extracting the juice with water.
Second step of milling sugarcane?
Lime (calcium oxide, an alkali) and carbon dioxide are added to this cloudy juice, to trap impurities. The impurities settle to the bottom and the liquid is strained to remove them from the clear juice.
Third step in milling process of cane sugar.
Water is evaporated from the clear juice until it is a thick yellow syrup. The syrup is filtered then concentrated by gently heating it in vacuum pans. As water evaporates and syrup becomes super saturated, sugar crystals form.
Fourth step in milling process of cane sugar.
The crystallized mixture in centrifuged to separate the crystals from the dark, thick syrup (molasses), and the crystals are washed and recentrifuged. The light brown crude raw sugar is ready to be refined into pure white sugar.
What happens to the molasses?
It is recycled, often two or three more times, by heating and recentrifuging until no more sugar crystals can be easily extracted.
What happens every time you with each extraction of the molasses?
The amount of sugar decreases while the color, flavor, and ash increase
While so-called first, second and third extraction of cane molasses are sometimes blended and sold for food use, final-extraction is considered what?
Too dark in color and too harsh in flavor for use by humans.
What is crude raw sugar considered North America?
Unclean and inedible.
What happens to crude raw sugar?
It’s sent to the refinery, where it undergoes a series of processes involving more washing, centrifuging, clarifying, and filtering. The sugar syrup is also decolorized.
How is sugar syrup decolorized? Explain how some manufacturers use bone char.
Meaning it passes through an ion exchange or activated carbon filter, much as you would pass water through a filter. A few cane (but not beet) sugar manufacturers still use bone char from cattle for decolorization, which strict vegetarians find unacceptable.
Last stage of refining process in sugar.
Pure sugar is crystallized for the last time, then dried, screened through wire meshes, packed, and sold.
What happen to remaining syrup from refining process?
Remaining syrup, commonly called molasses, is referred to as refiners’ syrup by the sugar industry. This differentiates it from molasses syrup left from the milling operation of sugar manufacture.
What are coarse sugars good for muffins and other baked goods?
They do not readily dissolve, and have an attractive sparkle.
Coarse crystalline sugar is sometimes called what?
Sanding sugar, although that term also refers to a different product called pearl sugar.
Coarse white sugars are often best for what? Why?
Whitest fondants and confections and clearest syrups, because they have the fewest impurities of all granulated sugars.
Being pure, coarse sugars are significantly more _______ than regular granulated sugars.
expensive
What is needed if large, sparkling crystals are to form?
Purity often exceeding 99.98%
One coarse sugar, designed for the whitest confections, is called what?
AA confectioners.
What should AA confectioners not be confused with?
This pure, coarse sugar should not be confused with finely pulverized powdered sugar.
Powdered sugar is often called what?
Confectioners sugar in the US and icing or fondant sugar in Canada.
Powdered sugar consists of what?
Sucrose crystals finely pulverized into powder and is available in various degrees of fineness.
The fineness of a powdered sugar grind is often indicated as what?
A number before an X–the higher the number, the greater the fineness.
Two common powdered sugars are what?
6X and 10X.
Of 6X and 10X, which is better for what? Why?
10X is best for smoothest uncooked icings and confections; anything coarser would be too gritty. For decorative dustings on desserts, 6X is the better choice, since its coarser grind means it is less likely to cake or liquefy.
Powdered sugars typically contains 3% what? Why?
Cornstarch, which absorbs moisture and prevents caking.
How does having 3% cornstarch in powdered sugars hurt and help?
It helps stiffen meringues but you may notice a raw starch taste when using it in certain applications.
Superfine sugar has crystals that are intermediate in size between what?
Powdered sugar and regular granulated sugar.
Superfine sugar is also called what?
Ultrafine
Does superfine sugar dissolve more quickly in liquids than regular granulated?
Yes
Why is superfine sugar good for batters and creamed shortenings?
It allows smaller air cells in, and is good for sugaring baked goods.
What is pearl sugar?
Opaque white irregular granules that do not dissolve readily.
How is pearl sugar used?
Much like coarse crystalline sugar, to provide a crunchy decorative topping on sweet baked goods, but it has a very different look than clear, glistening crystals of coarse crystalline sugar.
Three of names for pearl sugar.
Sanding sugar, decorative sugar, or nibs.
Do the names of certain sugars explain how they’re used?
Yes, fruit sugar, for example, is so fine it dissolves quickly when sprinkled on fruit.
What should fruit sugar not be confused with?
Fructose, which is also called fruit sugar because it is found in fruit.
What is baker’s sugar used for?
Used by bakers to produce the finest crumb in certain cakes; it also produces greater spread in cookies and is good for sugaring doughnuts.
What is bar sugar used for?
Dissolves so quickly in cold beverages; used for bar drinks.
What is caster or castor sugar named after?
The small container used for serving sugar in British homes. The grains are so fine they fit through a sugar “caster” or sprinkler.
Caster sugar is sold as what in the United States?
Superfine sugar
Is superfine sugar as fine as confectioners?
No, it isn’t mechanically crushed like confectioners’.
How does confectioners’ sugar keep from clumping together?
They add a little starch as anti-caking agent.
How do you make superfine sugar in your home?
Place regular granulated sugar in the food processor for a couple minutes.
What does superfine sugar do to meringues and cookies?
It reduces beading in common meringues and increases spread in cookies.
What is brown sugar?
Refers to fine granulated sugar with a small amount -usually less than 10% - of molasses or refiners’ syrup.
Why is brown sugar soft, sticky and tends to clump?
Because most, if not all, of the molasses is on the surface of the tiny sugar crystals.
Light brown sugar is also called what?
Golden
Sometimes, but not always, dark brown sugar has what added?
Caramel color.
Is there any difference in the amount of molasses added to (North American) light or dark brown sugar?
Very little difference if any.
Brown sugar is commercially made one of two ways. Explain.
To partially refine sugar crystals, that is, to leave some molasses syrup and other impurities with the crystallized sugar.
To blend cane sugar molasses with granulated white sugar, coating the crystals with molasses.
Which method of preparing brown sugar is more common?
Both are common, but the first method is typically used when brown sugar is made from sugar cane. The second method is always used with sugar beets.
Brown sugar is primarily used for what?
Its distinct molasses flavor and color.
Brown sugar is soft and tends to clump because of what?
It’s higher in moisture (3-4%) than granulated sugar.
What should you substitute with if brown sugar is unavailable? Think in kilograms.
1 pound (1 kilogram) molasses and 9 pounds (or 9 kilograms) sugar for every 10 pounds (or 10 kilograms) brown sugar in formula.
Are there specialty brown sugars available?
Yes
What is muscovado?
The darkest, richest-tasting brown sugar. It is soft and moist, consisting of powdery-fine crystals enrobed in molasses.
Muscovado is sometimes called what?
Barbados sugar, after the island in the Caribbean where it was produced in the 1700s.
How was muscovado sugar originally made?
Draining excess molasses from crystallized raw, unrefined sugar before shipping the sugar to England for refining.
The word muscovado is derived from what?
The Spanish word for unrefined.
What two types of muscovado are sold today?
Dark and light.
Dark muscovado retains the full amount of molasses (13%) from what?
13% molasses from sugar cane syrup.
Light muscovado contains how much molasses?
6%
Was is sucanat?
The trade-marked name for free-flowing brown sugar that is made with the full amount of molasses (13%) added back.
Despite having the name amount of molasses as muscovado, Sucanat is what color and flavor?
Golden colorant less intense flavor.
Sucanat stands for what?
SUgar CAne NATural
Why does Sucanat for granules rather than crystals?
It is slowly stirred while it dries and cools.
Sucanat is sometimes labeled what?
Dehydrated cane juice.
What is rapadura?
The brand name of an organic dehydrated cane juice which is similar in appearance and texture to Sucanat.
Rapadura is also the generic name in Brazil for what?
So-called non-centrifugal sugars.
How is turbinado sugar similar and different from light brown sugar?
Similar in taste and color to light brown sugar, but is dry and free-flowing, rather than soft and moist.
Turbinado sugar is sometimes called what?
Raw, washed raw, or unrefined sugar, but these terms are somewhat misleading. A better term might be partially refined.
How to make turbinado sugar.
Crude, raw sugar is first cleaned by steaming it. It is then washed and centrifuged to remove surface molasses before it is crystallized and dried.
Turbinado’s refining steps turn crude raw sugar into an edible light golden brown sugar that typically retains what percent of molasses?
2% molasses.
Where does the term turbinado come from?
Use of the centrifuge, which is also called a turbine, in the refining process of this and all sugar except artisanal non-centrifugal ones.
Sugar in the Raw and Florida Crystals are two brands of what?
Turbinado brown sugar.
What is demerara sugar?
A type of turbinado sugar. It is light brown with large, golden crystals.
Where is demerara popular?
Great Britain as a sweetener in coffee or on cereal.
Because demerara crystals also used as decorative sanding sugar?
Its crystals are large, crunchy, and glistening.
Demerara is named after what?
A region in Guyana, the country in South America where quantities of it were first made.
In some areas of the world, is sugar cane juice still evaporated in open pans until it’s dry, to produce crude, unrefined brown sugar, much as it was made thousands of years ago?
Yes
These unrefined raw sugars are sometimes called what? Why?
Non-centrifugal sugars, since they have not been centrifuged, or spun, to remove molasses at any stage in the process.
Do all unrefined sugars retain a rich, hearty flavor of molasses?
Yes. In fact, they can be thought of as crystallized molasses or evaporated cane juices, with nothing removed at any stage.
Are all unrefined sugars different? Why?
Yes, because of differences in regional practices.
Is unrefined sugar generally consumed where it is produced?
Yes, but quantities are available through specialty distributors, as interest in unique flavor of each regions sugar has grown.
What is the most common example of unrefined sugar? Where is it from?
Jaggery, made in the villages of India, where it is often called gur.
How is Jaggery made?
Boiling and stirring sugarcane juice until it evaporates to a thickened crystallized syrup. The hot, fudge-like mixture is cast in cylindrical molds or formed into cakes and cooled to harden.
Sometimes jaggery is grated from hardened blocks and sold as what?
Powdery crystals called shakkar (Hindi for sugar).
When shakkar is washed with water, centrifuged, and crumbled into grains, the resulting semi-refined product is called what?
Khandsari
About how much of the sugar consumed in India is shakkar, khandsari and jaggery?
1/3 to 1/2
Besides India, jaggery is also used throughout where?
Southeast Asia
What is panela? Where is rapadura, piloncillo and panocha sold/from?
Unreifined sugar from Columbia that’s sold as rectangular or round flat loaves throughout South America; rapider, from Brazil; cone-shaped piloncillo from Mexico; and panocha from the Philippines.
Refined artisan sugar made in Japan is called what?
Wasanbon toh
How is Wasanbon toh made?
Special variety of sugar cane is refined by repeatedly mixing sugar crystals with water, kneading the mix by hand, and pressing it with stones to remove molasses syrup. When complete, the sugar take form of a fine, ivory-white powder. It’s said to have a delicate flavor and is important in traditional Japanese sweets.
Today, much of the demerara - and muscovado - sugar sold is produced and shipped where?
Produces on the island of Mauritius, off the coast of Africa, and exported to Europe.
Syrups are mixtures of what?
One or more sugars dissolved in water, usually with small amounts of the other components, including acids, colorants, flavorants, and thickeners.
Do the other components in syrups play a crucial role?
Although present in small amounts, they are extremely important because they provide the unique characters of each syrup.
Most syrups contain what % water?
20%, but there are exceptions.
Invert syrup usually contains how much water?
27%
Maple syrups usually contains how much water?
33%
Simple syrup often contains how much water?
50%
Why are some syrups thicker than others?
They usually contain less water or higher saccharides in addition to sugar.
