The New Complete Book of Food

 The New Complete Book of Food

Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food

Low-calorie diet

Low-carbohydrate diet

Sucrose-free diet

Buying This Food

Look for: Tightly sealed boxes or sacks of dry sugars. Avoid stained packages; whatever

stained the outside may have seeped through into the sugar.

Choose tightly sealed bottles or liquid sugars. The liquid inside should be clear; tiny

bubbles and a gray scum on the surface of the sugar suggest that it has fermented.

Storing This Food

Store solid sugars in air- and moistureproof containers in a cool, dry cabinet.

Sugars are hydrophilic, which means that they will absorb moisture. If sugars get wet (or

pick up excess moisture from hot, humid air), they will harden or cake.

Store tightly sealed, unopened containers of liquid sugars such as corn syrup, maple

syrup, and molasses at room temperature. Once the container is opened, you can store the

sugar in the refrigerator to protect it from molds and keep the sugars from fermenting.

Preparing This Food

Because they contain different amounts of water and have different levels of sweetness, sug-

ars cannot simply be substituted equally for each other. As a general rule, one cup of white

table sugar = one cup of firmly packed brown sugar = 1.75 cup confectioner’s sugar (which

cannot be substituted in baking) = two cups corn syrup (with a reduction of liquid in bak-

ing and substitution of corn syrup for only half the sugar) = 1.3 cups molasses (with reduced

liquid and no more than substitution for half the sugar in baking).

To measure granulated white sugar, pour into a cup and use a knife to level. To measure

brown sugar, pack tightly into a cup. Powdered (confectioner’s) sugar can be sifted or not, as

the recipe dictates.

What Happens When You Cook This Food

When you heat sugar its molecules separate. The sugar liquifies, then turns brown. The

browning is called caramelization. When you heat sugar in water it attracts molecules of

water and forms a syrup that can be thickened by heating the solution long enough to evapo-

rate some of the water.