Recently Madeleine and I were talking about eating fresh strawberries, and I told her that I asked flavor scientist Arielle Johnson what she would pair with them. Johnson mentioned Okinawan black sugar, and Madeleine was intrigued.
For years, I’ve always had a library of sugars in my pantry. When you cook and bake a lot, you become acutely aware that often a small variation in ingredients can yield large flavor benefits. This is especially true for brown sugars. There are several dishes in which I prefer to use a particular type of brown sugar because of its signature caramelized, toffee-ish flavor. Many less refined brown sugars have high minerality, which is one aspect of the complex flavor notes. I consider these sugars just another tool to customize dishes I already make, especially simple bakes like scones, quick breads, and cookies.
Sugar is a great example of how industrialized food processes work. Sugar cane or beets are broken down and cooked so the sweet juices are released. Then that liquid, which is still full of water, is cooked down until the sugar crystallizes. The crystals are put in a centrifuge to remove the remaining liquid. White sugar is crystallized twice. That extracted liquid becomes molasses, while sugar crystals are left behind to be further processed to different crystal sizes and textures.
To make regular brown sugar, molasses is added back to the refined white sugar — 3.5% for light brown sugar to 6.5% for dark brown sugar. We all use brown sugar, I would imagine. I make my own because it’s easier for me to remember to always have sugar and molasses in the house. I just pour white cane sugar in a bowl, and add molasses a tablespoon or two at a time, and mix well until I achieve the color I want. You can do this by hand or with a mixer. I keep the homemade brown sugar in a mason jar or zip lock bag. It stays very moist. I think experimenting with these different sugars in your favorite cookie recipe is a wonderful way to get to know them.
Then there are the raw sugars, which still haven’t had the molasses refined off. Raw sugars like turbinado (which is what comes in those packets that say “sugar in the raw”) and demerara are single-crystallized natural brown sugars. They actually have less residual molasses than industrial light brown sugar, about 2%. But they have a more interesting texture, especially demerara, which has a coarse texture that lends a characteristic crunch when used as a garnish. It can also be used in syrups and drinks. Turbinado has less molasses and a slightly finer texture than demerara.
The characteristic molded shape of unrefined reduced sugar cane juice is found in many cultures. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
With sugars like piloncillo or panela, muscovado and kokuto, we move into the artisan realm of sugar processing. They are made in a single process. The cane juice is boiled down and reduced, then poured into molds so it may cool and harden. It isn’t put in a centrifuge or crystalized, so the sugar literally melts in your mouth.
Muscovado sugar’s texture comes from it being beaten after the reduced sugary liquid hardens. Because of this beating, muscovado melts easily, so it is prized for baking. Brown sugar buttercream is dreamy with muscovado, and because of its texture, it doesn’t get gritty. Here’s a recipe for Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies. Or you could make Smitten Kitchen’s Brown Butter Brown Sugar Shortbread. You could make that cookie using a different sugar each time to taste the subtle differences in flavor. All brown sugar makes baked goods more moist out of the oven, and they stay moist longer.
A person reduces sugar cane juice into jaggery. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Jaggery, the molded brown sugar used in South Asia, is often made from a combination of cane sugar and/or date, coconut, and toddy palm sap. It’s highly regional with specific sugars made from specific trees.The sugar made purely from palm tree sap is highly prized for its flavor. All these sugars have a lovely caramel flavor. But palm jaggery has an additional umami savoriness along with the sweetness, and so is often used to balance spice in savory dishes, like raita or curries, but they can also balance a too acidic tomato sauce.
Try this two-ingredient, protein-rich recipe of Peanut Laddoos. Ladoos are a spherical sweet. Or this Spicy Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookie recipe from Nik Sharma. It’s delicious. The spiciness is from black pepper as well as caramelized ginger. To use these molded sugars, you need to grate them first, or you can briefly zap the cylinder in the microwave for five seconds, which should cause the sugar to crumble. Or you can use a hammer to break the sugar up.
Japanese kokuto or Okinawa black sugar. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
The Okinawan speciality sugar, kokuto, sometimes called black Okinawan sugar, is the most complex in flavor with notes of minerality (it’s high in calcium, potassium and iron), smokiness, and even a hint of bitterness. Some say it is the rawest sugar in the world. It comes in blocks, thumbprint-sized rectangles, and a smashed crumble. It’s used in both sweet and savory applications as different as Japanese braised pork belly. But you can eat chunks of it like candy. Okinawan black sugar can even be chopped up and added to a dough like you would add chocolate chips.