Specialty Brown Sugars

There are several brown sugars available to the baker in addition to regular light and dark brown sugars (Figure 8.8). Many were developed and introduced to the market within the last twenty years. Since the processes used in making these products vary with the manufacturer, they can be described in general terms only. All brown sugars retain small amounts of vitamins and minerals from the molasses they contain, but none is a significant source of either.

Muscovado sugar is the darkest, richest-tasting brown sugar, having a uniquely fruity flavor reminiscent of caramel and raisins. It is soft and moist, consisting of powdery-fine crystals enrobed in molasses. Muscovado sugar is sometimes called Barbados sugar, after the island in the Caribbean where it was produced in the 1700s. It was originally made by draining excess molasses from crystallized raw unrefined sugar before shipping the sugar to England for refining. The word muscovado is derived from the Spanish word for unrefined. The term historically is used to refer to any unrefined noncentrifugal brown sugar (see “Noncentrifugal Sugars: Artisan Sugars from Around the World,”).