Maple sugar comes from the sap of sugar maple trees. The sap is boiled and then refined to make maple syrup. The process is very similar to that used to refine cane sugar. It takes 40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of maple syrup, which is why maple syrup tends to be expensive. Removing all of the moisture from the sap results in maple sugar. Maple sugar is sucrose and the natural, residual flavorings from the sap. Think of it as the maple equivalent of turbinado sugar.
Powdered sugar is also called confectioner's sugar or icing sugar. It is granulated sugar that is ground to varying degrees to a fine powder. The degree to which it is ground is indicated by a number and X. 4X is the coarsest, followed by 6X, 10X and 10XX. 10X is available in grocery stores and is generally accepted as the best powdered sugar to use in confections due to both its degree of fineness and availability. Because powdered sugar is ground so finely, it has a tendency to clump. As a result, up to 3% cornstarch, by weight, is added to keep it dry.
Brown sugar is granulated sugar coated with molasses. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses and has a stronger flavor than light brown sugar. Most dark and light brown sugars are made in either one of two ways. Unrefined ‘raw’ sugar naturally contains molasses, and the first way brown sugar is made is to partially refine the sugar and leave some of the molasses with the granulated sugar. The second way is to take refined white sugar and add back the molasses at the end of processing.
Most brown sugars contain less than 10% molasses, and oftentimes the only difference between dark and light brown sugars is that dark brown sugar contains additional caramel coloring.
Another type of brown sugar to look for is Muscovado. Muscovado comes from the Spanish word, ‘mascabado’, which means unrefined. Muscovado sugar, then, is unrefined brown sugar. Dark brown muscovado sugar has a stickier texture than regular dark brown sugar. It is stronger, richer , and has more natural flavor. It pairs best with other strong, dark flavors, such as coffee, chocolate, cherry, and stout beer and is wonderful to use in gingerbread. Pictured below is dark brown Muscovado sugar from India Tree:
Light brown Muscovado sugar is also unrefined, but is a milder molasses sugar than the dark. It is best with light caramels, butterscotch, spice cakes and other baking and dessert cooking. The following photo is light brown Muscovado sugar also from India Tree:
Both India Tree and Billington’s (available through Zingerman’s online) offer dark and light brown muscovado sugars from Mauritius, where the sugarcane is grown on rich volcanic ash.
Granulated sugar is commonly referred to as table or regular sugar. It is the white sugar we find in the 5 pound bag at the supermarket. The scientific name for granulated sugar is sucrose, and sucrose is a disaccharide. What is a disaccharide? A disaccharide is a molecule of glucose and a molecule of sucrose, which are chemically bonded together.
The descriptor, granulated, refers to the particle size, which is similar to sand. Sugar that is ground more finely is called fine or superfine sugar. Confectioner’s sugar, or powdered sugar, is ground even more finely. Sugar can also be ground more coarsely (coarse sugar).
Sucrose is naturally present in dates, ripe bananas, maple tree sap, sugar beets, sugarcane, and other fruits and plants. But it is sugarcane and sugar beets that are used for commercial sugar production. Sugarcane is a tall reedy grass that grows in tropical climates. Sugar beets grow in temperate climates of Europe and America, and like all beets are a root that grows underground and takes in the minerals and contents of the soil which surround them.
Cane sugar is considered superior to beet sugar, especially when baking. Both sugars are refined to about 99.95% sucrose, and the remaining 0.05% is trace minerals and various proteins. These trace minerals impact the flavor and texture of the baked goods and confections, which use sugar. An interesting article from the San Francisco Chronicle discusses the differences in more detail. Beet sugar is often not labeled as such; however, cane sugar is. So look for granulated pure cane sugar.
