Sugar cookery

sugar
sugar cookery
types
properties

1. SUGAR COOKERY

SUGAR:
Sugar is a natural sweetener which provides 15 calories per teaspoon. It is a disaccharide
sucrose, a carbohydrate found in every fruit and vegetable.
All green plants manufacture sugar through photosynthesis, the process by which plants
transform sunlight and soil nutrients into their food and energy supply. Sugar cane and sugar
beets contain sucrose in large quantities, that’s why they are used as the source of the sugar we
use. The sugar removed from sugar cane and sugar beets is exactly the same as the sugar found
in all fruits and vegetables. Fully processed beet sugar and cane sugar are identical products and
may be used interchangeably for all purposes.
The first cultivated sugar crop was sugarcane, developed from wild varieties in the East Indies—
probably New Guinea. The sugar beet was developed as a crop in Europe in the 19th century
during the Napoleonic Wars, when France sought an alternate homegrown source of sugar in
order to save its ships from running blockades to sugarcane sources in the Caribbean.



SUGAR COOKING:
The process of modifying sugar (pure granulated sucrose) by dissolving it in a little water and
then heating it without stirring to various temperatures to produce various non-crystalline
consistencies until finally there is caramelization which changes its flavor and chemical
composition.
Beyond its contribution as a sweetener and flavor enhancer, sugar:
 Interacts with molecules of protein or starch during baking and cooking process

2.  Acts as a tenderizer by absorbing water and inhibiting flour gluten development, as well
as delaying starch gelatinization
 Incorporates air into shortening in the creaming process
 Caramelizes under heat, to provide cooked and baked foods with pleasing color and
aroma
 Speeds the growth of yeast by providing nourishment
 Serves as a whipping aid to stabilize beaten egg foams
 Delays coagulation of egg proteins in custards
 Regulates the gelling of fruit jellies and preserves
 Helps to prevent the spoilage jellies and preserves
 Improves the appearance and tenderness of canned fruits
 Delays discoloration of the surface of frozen fresh fruits
 Enables a wide variety of candies through varying degrees of recrystallization
 Controls the reforming of crystals through inversion (breakdown of fructose and glucose)
 Enhances the smoothness and flavor of ice cream

TYPES OF SUGAR USED IN COOKING:

1. Granulated Sugar:
It is highly refined, multi-purpose sugar. It is also sometimes called refined table or white sugar.
It is made from sugar cane and sugar beets. It is used in cooking and baking.



2. Caster sugar:
It is super fine granulated white sugar, because the crystals are so fine, they dissolve much
quicker than standard granulated white sugar which makes it ideal for making meringues, syrups
and cocktails.

3. 3. Confectioners’ Sugar:
Confectioners’ sugar also referred as powdered sugar and 10x sugar. This is a type of white
sugar that has been ground into a fine powder. To prevent clumping, a small amount of
cornstarch is typically blended in. It is easily dissolves in liquid, and is ideal for making icing
and frosting, as well as decorating baked goods.




4. Pearl Sugar:
It is nib sugar or hail sugar. Pearl sugar is a variety of white sugar that has a coarse, hard texture
and an opaque color. It also holds its shape and does not melt when exposed to high temperature.
It is used to decorate pastries, cookies and buns.

4. 5.Sanding Sugar:
Sanding sugar is used mainly for decorating. It has large crystals, which are fairly resistant to
heat and add extra texture and crunch to cookies and other baked goods.





6. Cane sugar:
Cane sugar is produced solely from sugar cane and is minimally processed. It has also a slightly
larger grain, darker color, and higher price tag.








7. Demerara Sugar:
Demerara sugar is a variety of raw cane sugar that is minimally refined. It has large grains with
an amber color and a natural, subtle molasses flavor. It is used to sweeten coffee or tea, or as a
topping on baked goods, like muffins, scones, cookies and cakes.

5. 8. Turbinado Sugar:
Turbinado is another type of minimally refined raw cane sugar. This sugar variety has large
medium-brown crystals and is often mistaken for standard brown sugar because of its color. It
has a delicate caramel flavor and is commonly used to sweeten beverages and can also be used in
baking.



9. Muscovado Sugar:
Muscovado sugar is a variety of unrefined cane sugar in which the molasses is not removed. It
has a sticky, wet, sandy texture with a rich complex flavor. It can be used as a substitute for
brown sugar. Its flavor is much stronger. It’s especially wonderful in barbecue sauce, marinades
and savory dishes.



10. Light Brown Sugar:
Light brown sugar is refined white sugar with a small amount of molasses added in it. It has a
wet sandy structure. It is used for making any baked goods as well as in savory dishes.

6. 11. Dark Brown Sugar:
It is refined as white sugar. It contains more molasses than light brown sugar which gives it a
stronger, more intense flavor. Light and dark brown sugar can be used interchangeably.






12. Honey:
Honey has an intense sweetness, but the flavor is determined by the source of the flower nectar.
In general, darker the honey, stronger the flavor. Like corn syrup, honey adds moisture to cakes
and cookies. Unlike corn syrup which has a fairly neutral flavor, honey adds distinctive flavor.



USES OF SUGAR:

1. Preserves and Jams:

7. Sugar is commonly used as a preservative in jams and jellies, and enhances the color and flavor
of various fruits. The addition of sugars to jams and jellies is also essential to the gelling process,
to obtain the desired consistency and firmness.
2. Baking
Sugar helps tenderize bakery products and provides a source of nourishment for the growth of
yeast, which helps the leavening process (e.g. breads to rise). The browning reaction that sugar
undergoes when exposed to heat adds flavor, and contributes to the appearance of color that can
be seen on baked goods such as the crusts of bread and the browning of cookies.
3. Canning and Freezing
Sugars are added to canned fruits and vegetables to improve flavor, enhance texture, and
preserve natural colors. Sugars are also used to slow the freezing process, and prevent large ice
crystals from forming in frozen sweet mixtures, such as ice cream. Large ice crystals can create a
gritty texture, while the formation of smaller ice crystals results in a smoother product, providing
a more desirable texture. Sugars also increase the thickness of frozen desserts, imparting a thick,
creamy texture in the mouth.


4. Candy
Sugar (sucrose) is the primary ingredient in a wide variety of candies, largely due to its
solubility. In its simplest form, candy is made by dissolving sugar in water, and heating the
solution. As the temperature rises, more sugar can dissolve. The solution is boiled until no more
sugar will dissolve (a "supersaturated" solution). As the solution continues to boil, the water
evaporates, making the solution more concentrated. When the solution cools, the sugar's
solubility decreases and the sugar crystallizes out of solution. The type of candy that is being
made (and its desired consistency) determines the degree of sugar concentration, and the extent
to which sugar particles are recrystallized.
5. General Cooking
Sugar is a key ingredient in the preparation of custards, puddings, and sauces. These food
products depend on sugar to perform a number of functions, in addition to its role as a sweetener.
In custards, sugars help to breakdown proteins in egg whites so that they are more evenly
dispersed in the liquid mixture. This permits the egg mixture to thicken slowly, mixing with the

8. other ingredients, resulting in a smoother consistency. Sugar helps to prevent lumping and
thicken sauces and puddings by separating the starch molecules of the flour (or other thickening
ingredient such as cornstarch). This allows for a more desirable consistency. In non-sweet foods
such as salad dressings, condiments and sauces, sugars enhance flavors and balance the natural
acidity of tomato and vinegar-based products. This is because sugars are easily broken down by
weak acids.
6. Beverages
Sugars are added to beverages to provide both sweetness and body (otherwise known as "mouth
feel"). Sugars are also important in the brewing and wine-making industry. Sugars or other
carbohydrates (except lactose) can be used to produce alcohols by fermentation. During
fermentation, yeast feeds on sugars and produces bubbles of carbon dioxide, water, and alcohol.
Sugar also has some surprising non-food uses:
 Sugar is involved in the fermentation process to make products containing alcohol (such as
wine);
 Sugar slows the setting of cement and glues;
 Sugar is used to help make certain types of detergents;
 Sugar is used in the textile industry for sizing and finishing fabrics;
 Sugar is used to make certain pharmaceuticals;
 Sugar is used in wound healing.
THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF SUGAR:
 Planting and harvesting
 Preparation and processing
 Juice extraction pressing
 Purification of juice — clarification
and evaporation
 Crystallization
 Centrifugaling
 Drying and packaging


Process of Cooking Sugar:

9. Crystallization
 Definition:
“Crystallization is the process by which a solid forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly
organized into a structure known as crystal”
Some of the ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, melting, or more
rarely deposition directly from a gas.
 Principle:
The principle behind the crystallization is that the amount of solute that can be dissolved by a
solvent increase with temperature. In crystallization, the impure substance is dissolve in a
suitable solvent to reach its nearly saturated solution at a temperature higher than the room
temperature.

 Process:
Crystallization occurs in two major steps, and these are as follow:
 Nucleation
 Crystal growth
Nucleation:
Nucleation is the step where the solute molecules or atoms dispersed in the solvent start to gather
into clusters, on the microscopic scale, that become stable under the current operating system. It
is at the stage of nucleation that the atoms or molecules arrange in a defined and periodic manner
that defines the crystal structure.
Crystal growth:
Crystal growth is a dynamic process occurring in equilibrium where solute molecules or atom
precipitates out of solution, and dissolve back into solution.
 Types:
Crystal formation can be divided into two types, where the first types of crystals are composed of
a cation or anion, also known as a salt, such as Sodium Acetate. The second types of crystals are
composed of uncharged.
 Methods:

10. Crystal formation can be achieved by various methods, cooling, evaporation, addition of a
second solvent to reduce the solubility of the solute, solvent layering, sublimation, changing of
cation and anion and as well as other methods.

Stages of sugar cooking:
There are 7 stages of cooking sugar.
Thread: Cooked to 230° to 234°. The syrup spins a soft, loose, short thread.
Soft Ball: Cooked to 234° to 240°. The syrup forms a soft, pliable, sticky ball.
Firm Ball: Cooked to 244° to 248°. The syrup forms a firm, but still pliable, sticky ball.
Hard Ball: Cooked to 250° to 265°. The syrup forms a hard, sticky ball.
Soft Crack: Cooked to 270° to 290°. The syrup forms longer strand that are firm, but yet
remain pliable.
Hard Crack: Cooked to 300° to 310°. The syrup forms stiff strands that are firm and brittle.
Caramel: Cooked to 320° to 338°. The syrup changes color, ranging from a light golden to a
dark amber brown. It forms hard strands that are firm and brittle.

Functions of Sugar Cookery:

Aside from making some foods more palatable and providing kilojoules, sugar has a number of
important properties that contribute uniquely to a food’s appearance, texture and shelf-life. It’s
therefore an important ingredient in both the foods we make at home, and the manufactured
foods on our supermarket shelves. Reducing or removing sugar from a product often requires
replacement with a number of substitute ingredients to achieve the same quality, taste and texture
profile. Below are some of the important roles sugar plays when it is added to foods:
 As a bulking agent – sugar contributes to the texture of food, such as in meringue and
biscuits. This is an important role of sugar in most baking applications.
 As a preservative – sugar helps to prevent or slow the growth of bacteria, moulds and
yeast in jams and other preserves. It also helps to prolong the shelf life of many foods on
our supermarket shelves by acting as a humectant – maintaining and stabilising the water
content in foods.
 Enhancing flavour – adding a little sugar to nutritious foods such as sour fruits (frozen
berries or rhubarb), or porridge, helps to make them more palatable. Sugar also enhances
fruit flavours in foods.
 For colour – on heating, sugar breaks down to produce the colour and desirable flavour
that characterises many cooked foods. This is caused by sugars reacting with proteins as
they break down in the cooking process, called the maillard reaction. A sprinkling of

11. sugar and cinnamon on top of fruit muffins makes for a browned crunchy topping and
gives a nice texture.
 Adds viscosity – sugar provides body in drinks and semi-liquid foods like syrups,
chutneys and sweet sauces.
 As an anticoagulant – when it’s heated, sugar delays the coagulation of proteins (or the
change to a semi-solid state), such as in baked custards and other desserts.