Baking with brown sugar requires packing it into a measuring cup to match the sweetness of white sugar. Brown sugar has a richer taste due to molasses and can be used in desserts like streusel-topped fruitcakes and spiced pumpkins. Darker brown sugar has a stronger flavor. To prevent hardening, store brown sugar in a cool, dry place or add a slice of apple to the packet.
One of the best tips for baking with brown sugar is to realize its differences from the white variety. To offer the same sweetness as white sugar in baked goods, the brown kind needs to be pressed or packed into a measuring cup. However, knowing this, you can create lower calorie, less sweet baked goods by not packing them when measuring it for recipes to replace white sugar. Brown sugar is much richer than white since it’s made with molasses. Baking with brown sugar can result in delicious, flavorful desserts that include cakes and coffees with streusel fillings and baked pumpkins for side dishes or meals.
Acorn, butternut squash, and many other pumpkins can be spiced up by adding butter mixed with brown sugar during the end of the cooking time. This can be done when cooking pumpkin in a covered microwave-safe container in a microwave oven, but the skin of the vegetable must be pierced in several places using the tines of a fork. Like making baked potatoes in a microwave, pumpkins can explode if their skins aren’t pierced. The squash should be cooked on its own until softer before adding brown sugar to the dish in the oven or microwave.
A great tip for varying a fruitcake recipe is to make it with a streusel topping rather than a top crust. The bottom pie crust can be a crumb or dough type. A mixture of brown sugar, flour, salt, and cold butter cut into small pieces makes a basic streusel. When baking with brown sugar in a topping such as streusel, some bakers may add other ingredients such as oats and/or cinnamon. Streusel toppings can also be delicious with coffee and muffins.
Since the color of different types of brown sugar relates to how much molasses is used in each, the darker types have the richest taste. Golden brown sugar has much less molasses, so it has a much lighter flavor and color than the demara type, which is dark and savory. When baking with brown sugar, a moist, soft texture is desirable in all types. To keep brown sugar packets from hardening into lumps, a slice of fresh apple added to the tightly sealed packet for a few days often helps the sweetener maintain its moist texture. Storing brown sugar in a cool, dry place can also help it become hard and lumpy.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
