Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Brown Sugar and Happy Rants

The other day it occurred to me that it has been at least six months (possibly more) since I bought brown sugar although I use it almost everyday. I don't remember when exactly but I started making my own I have kept at it quite possibly because it's incredibly easy... easier than remembering to get it from the store.

Jayna was the first person I saw make brown sugar. I had never thought about making it before and assumed it was regular sugar that was slightly less processed than white sugar. I didn't know I could be making it at home, I was just missing an ingredient.



I don't know much about Molasses. It is a byproduct of the sugar refinement process. Brown sugar is simply sugar with some of the molasses mixed back in-- we can do that!

1 Tablespoon Molasses for every Cup of White Sugar (you can make adjustments to your personal taste with less of more Molasses).

I've used blackstrap molasses and I am happy with it although I haven't tried any other kinds. I've learned that blackstrap has more nutrients (I'm not sure how much more), made from older sugar cane (can blackstrap come from sugar beets?) and can have a bit of bitterness to it so I have to be careful not to over do it. Sulphered molasses is made from green sugar and so is treated with sulphur fumes to refine the sugar (I don't have a real understanding on this)-- sounds unappealing to me. Regular molasses is made from ripe cane (and sugar beets) and is lighter in color than blackstrap. My next jar of molasses will be the regular kind so I can see how I like it.

A jar costs under $4 and lasts a really long time. According to my estimates one 12 oz. jar will turn about 10 lbs of sugar into brown sugar.




This is a 4 cup batch most recently made. This brings to another reason why I love my KichenAid and it also brings me to my BladeBeater which makes it even easier to love my KichenAid, not that it was ever all that hard but it's even that much better. Gone are the days of stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula (I've even seen Martha Stewart do this on her show-- poor Martha-- such a hardship).

This is not my typical purchase. I bought it for about $25 at Hollywood Hardware on Freeport in Sacramento. While this is pricey for me is not at all pricey compared to just about anything else KitchenAid related. I love it when products show that someone somewhere was really thinking (like baking powder cans-- so simple but illustrates that thought went into it-- I save those cans and refill them with other things that are often needed by the teaspoon). The squeegees on the edges of the flat beater scrape down the sides of the bowl as it mixes and when it's all done then the BladeBeater works as a large spatula that just so happens to perfectly fit the contour of the bowl. The only negative thing I could say about it is that if I'm mixing a small volume then it can squeak-- I can live with that. totally.

It's made in the USA and they make blades that fit different types of mixers and models.

Happy rant leading to another happy rant! yay for awesome mixers and brown sugar!

Now you've made all the way to the end-- thanks! I have a question for you... Would you like to see a post about making yogurt or english muffins/crumpets? I've recently started making both and am starting to get the hang of it. Please leave a comment-- thanks for reading.

2 comments:

Charlene said...

I have made yogurt but am not fond of the stuff. Your cousin Jill has made it for Samuel too. Says tasty but time consuming. lol
But English muffins/crumpets sounds good. you will also post the recipe if you blog on that - right? I still bake every week for Uncle Alan. And I love to try new stuff.
Love the info on the brown sugar. I use the kleenraw brown sugar but am not sure if that is different.
Keep up the good blogging Kristin.

Andrea Michelle said...

way cool! didn't know you could do that! :o) thanks for sharing :o) kinda off topic but I've made my own cottage cheese (curds & Whey :o) If you like cottage cheese this stuff is whey better ;o) hehe couldn't help it!