Chapter 3

Sugar
Sugar is one of the major ingredients in the bakery industry and plays an
important role. Commonly, sugar is obtained from sugar cane and beets.
Sugars vary in their sweetening quality and accordingly there are following
types of sugar:
Granulated sugar
Granulated sugar is an all purpose crystal sugar and has large-sized
granuals. It is used in biscuits to get hard and crunchy texture. It is
considered unsuitable for creaming mixture by manual process and ideal for
boiled sugar works.
Icing sugar
The granulated sugar is ground and sieved through a fine mesh to produce a
fine white powdered sugar, which is called icing sugar. It contains calcium
phosphate or starch to retain its free-flowing capacity. It is mainly used for
decorative purposes. Icing sugar is also called pulverized sugar.
Castor sugar
Castor sugar is a finely ground white crystallized sugar. It dissolves quickly
and easily mixes with other ingredients. It gives a smooth structure to
aerated products like cakes, sponges, short breads and short pastries. It is
also called confectionery sugar or powdered sugar.
Sugar cubes
Sugar cubes are the moulded form of powdered sugar. They are mainly used
for beverages.
Loaf sugar
Loaf sugar is a large compressed block of granulated sugar, cut into cubes.
It does not dissolve easily. It is mainly used for boiled sugar works because
of its purity.
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is unrefined sugar and is brown in colour. It is of two types:
i) Demerara sugar. It is a partially refined, fairly dry sugar, which is
light brown in colour.
ii) Barbados sugar. It is a less refined, smaller grained moist sugar,
which is dark brown in colour.

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 Demerara and Barbados sugars give dark colour and delicious flavor
to the brown. Coloured cakes, biscuits and puddings. They are also
served with coffee.

Treacle
Treacle is dark coloured syrup with thick consistency. It is a slightly burnt
sugar, which is mainly used for rich fruitcakes, puddings and biscuits.
Glucose or invert syrup
Glucose or invert syrup is produced from starch or sucrose with the addition
of weak acid to invert the sugar. It is available in thin syrup and in powdered
form. It gives shining effect to fondant and prevents crystallization in sugar
boiling. It gives shelf life, retains the moisture for longer period in cakes and
it can be used in chocolate to make it pliable.
Honey
Honey is a natural product extracted from the nectar of flofwers by the
honey bee. It gives delicious flavor and is used for making cakes, biscuits,
brandy snaps and nought.
Jaggery
Jaggery is made from the extract of palm tree, which can be a substitute for
brown sugar.
Nib sugar
Nib sugar is broken sugar, which has been sieved to standardize the grain
texture. It is mainly used for decorating the tops of cake and buns.
Golden syrup
Golden syrup is golden in colour and heavy in nature. It is a by-product of
sugar, refined after the boiling syrup ceases to yield crystals. It is filtered
and concentrated and is used for ginger cakes, biscuits, tartlets, flans,
steamed and baked puddings and sauces.
FUNCTIONS OF SUGAR IN BAKERY PRODUCTS
In bakery products sugar has the following functions:
1. Is used as sweetener.
2. Acts as an energy food for yeast activity.
3. Produces CO2 that raises the dough fabric(structure).
4. Improves the flavor and taste.

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 5. Retains moisture for a longer time and improves the shelf life.
6. Caramelizes when heated which provides dark brown colour.
7. Gives smooth, soft, white texture grain and crumb.
8. Has a mellowing or tenderizing capacity.
9. Helps give crust colour.
10. Gives nutritional value (carbohydrate provides energy to the body
after digestion).
11. Improves the toasting quality (it improves the colour and flavor by
caramelization when toasting).
12. Is used for decorating purposes in the form of icing sugar.
13. Helps get even texture.
14. When whisking egg whites, sugar gives the proteins an increased
strength enabling them to retain a higher proportion of air.
15. Lowers the freezing point in ice creams, keeping the mixture soft,
smooth and free from ice grains.

COOKING SUGAR
One should take the following precautions while cooking sugar:
1. Use thick bottom bow I.
2. Equipment should be clean and free from oil grease.
3. Use quality sugar.
4. Add sufficient water so that it will dissolve well
5. Add lemon juice before the solution reaches boiling point.
6. Lemon juice helps remove dust from sugar syrup.
7. Use slow fire and do not stir the syrup when boilding
8. Remove the scum with the help of a thick wet cloth.
9. During boiling, small specks of sugar crystals will be sprayed on it. It
must be removed.
10. Stop the boiling when the required stage has been reached.
11. If the sugar has gone over the required stage, adjust by adding warm
water.
12. Maintain the correct temperature.
13. Follow the methods carefully.
14. If colour or essence is added, ensure that they are free from oil.
Boiling of Sugar
When boiling the sugar with water different consistencies are obtained. A
copper vessel is ideal for sugar boiling. Glucose is added during boiling to
prevent recrystallisation.

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 Hand Test for Checking Sugar
The different stages of sugar syrup are given in Table 3.1
Short thread
Dip the dry finger on the sugar syrup and rub the mixture between thumb
and finger and draw apart. A theread will be formed. At this stage, the
thread will break if stretched.
Long thread
Do the same as above. At this stage the thread will stretch as far as the
span of the finger without breaking.
Soft ball
The sugar can be shaped into a ball but will just hold its shape and be soft
and pliable.
Hard ball
At this stage the sugar can be very easy to make a ball and the ball will
be very firm when pressed with the finger.
Soft crack
When placed in water the sugar will form a film on the finger. It will snap
but has tendency to be pliable.
Hard crack
Do the same soft cracks test. When biting the sugar should snap but not
stick to the teeth.
Caramel
The sugar will begin to colour gradually to darker shades of brown.
Black jack
At this stage the sugar will turn black.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Name the types of sugar.
2. What are the functions of sugar in bakery products
3. What are the points that should be borne in your mind while cooking
sugar ?
4. Explain the different stages of sugar boiling.
5. What do you mean by caramel ?

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