Awww, Sugar….

Do you start to sing that song when you say sugar too? I love that song, just singing it makes me smile.

Let’s talk sugar, shall we? There are a lot of different types of sugar but I am going to focus on the 4 main types of sugar that I have in my cabinet at all times.

I am not much of a baker. I can do it, but I chose not to do it. One reason is that I am a bit of a “sloppy” cook. I do not like to measure. I use my fingers and hands to measure and I only use measuring spoons etc when I am either writing a recipe or trying a new recipe of someone else’s for the first time. That being said, I do use a bit of sugar in savory items.

I am going to start with granulated sugar. Natural, unbleached sugar is my go to. Why add more bleach into my system if it isn’t necessary? Typically I purchase mine at HEB or Trader Joe’s but during the holidays when I am forced to bake I will buy a larger container at Costco. There are plenty on the market now, including this one on Amazon.

Break it down

Brown sugar is what gives cookies texture. I actually use more brown sugar in rubs and brines than i do in baking. The key with storing your brown sugar is to make sure it is in a sealed container. When it gets too much air it turns into a hard mess. If this happens, put the amount you need into a glass bowl. Moisten a paper towel, cover the bowl and heat in 15 second increments in the microwave. Use a fork to break it up.

Powdered sugar, also known as confectioners sugar, is used a lot in frostings or to dust on top of cakes and cookies. I also use it to add to my whipped cream to sweeten it. I like it better for whipped cream so it is smooth and doesn’t get that grit. If a recipe needs you to sift the powdered sugar it will let you know.

Sugar in the raw is my go to for my coffee sweetener but also to give that perfect crust to creme brulee. If you use granulated sugar for creme brulee, I find that it burns. Sugar in the raw melts perfectly and gives you that crackly crust that you die for.

Awww, honey, honey

I love honey! I use it in tea, in salad dressing and in recipes like my Cauliflower and Marcona Almond Salad to give a slight touch of sweetness.

Local honey is recommended if you struggle with allergies. There is some controversial articles on this but it can’t hurt, right? You can always buy honey that is not local and there are a lot of varieties out there. I love using honeycomb on a cheese platter but having a bottle in your cabinet just makes me feel better. Hot honey is having a moment right now. It is sweet with a kick of heat and I love it. Serve it drizzled over fried chicken and I am in heaven.

Molasses, Maple Syrup and Lyle’s Golden Syrup

Molasses always brings me back to my childhood. My mom would bring some back to SD from our visits to her home state of VA. Now molasses is found in most supermarkets. We use it to dip our kielbasa in but it is also used in a lot of sweet dishes that have a bit of bit of a warm, smoky flavor.

Maple syrup is one of my favorite flavors. I lived in Vermont the last few years of high school and got to witness the sap gathering. It is quite a task to do so. There is nothing like real maple flavor. If you want to use the fake stuff for pancakes etc., that is your call, but when it comes to baking there is not substitute for maple syrup. I love it in granola, on waffles all of the things! It is worth the money, trust me.

Lyle’s Golden Syrup is NOT corn syrup. It is syrup made from sugar. Here is a great article by Martha Stewart with her ways to use it. I have one recipe that I use it for so I always have it in my cabinet.

All of the flour

The amount of flour I have in my cabinets and pantry is a bit absurd. I also have some in my freezer! Are you ready to explore the wide world of flour? Let’s explore together shall we?

Doing it for the ‘za

I like to make pizza, correction, I love to make pizza. An essential part of pizza is the dough, so therefore I have a lot of flour.

How you cook your pizza will help determine what type of flour will work best for you. I have an Ooni pizza oven and I love it. There are a wide assortment of pizza ovens on the market and I highly recommend investing in one if you are a pizza lover. They make a great gift and are a great way to get family around the island, making their personalized pizza.

What type of flour is best for making homemade pizza dough? Good question. Let me try and break it down a bit.

Let’s start with a chewy crust. To get that chewy crust you need to have more gluten. Higher gluten means bread flour is the answer. Bread flour contains 2-4 percent higher amount of protein than all purpose flour. Higher protein translates to higher gluten.

If you prefer a crispy crust then 00 flour is what you are looking for. I use 00 flour from Anson Mills or King Arthur when going for a crispier, Neapolitan style crust.

All-purpose flour is simply that, for all purposes. If you are looking for a middle of the road chew vs crunch this is your answer.

Other flour needs

When baking cakes and cookies, most recipes will call for flour. When it just says flour, they mean all purpose flour.

Some recipes will call specifically for cake flour or self-rising flour. If you don’t have those on hand, no worries. There is a way to “cheat” to achieve a very similar goal.

If you do not have cake flour on hand a good substitute is use 2 TBSP less of all purpose flour and add 2 TBSP of corn starch, prior to mixing it with the rest of the ingredients.

The substitute for self-rising is 1 cup of all purpose flour plus 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. baking soda. If there is additional baking powder, soda or salt you add that also.

All rise!

Most cake or cookie recipes call for and ingredient to help them rise to the occasion. That is were baking powder and baking soda come in. This is where the science is really relevant in baking (and why it is not my favorite). Baking soda and baking powder are not interchangeable. Baking powder has baking soda plus cream of tartar and cornstarch in it. Once they have liquid come in contact with them tthey are activated to do their job. 

Corn starch can be used in many things, but I honestly use it most of all in prepping chicken to be fried. In the world of sweet things, it is used primarily as a thickening agent in things like homemade pudding. 

Tapioca flour is used as a thickener. I use it mostly when I’m trying to thicken fruit juices in a pie. You don’t want to use the tapioca pearls here you want to use it in the flour format.

Add that flavor

I love vanilla. I don’t like the taste of imitation vanilla. It is like that Seinfeld episode, fake, fake…fake, fake. Ugh, it just isn’t worth it. If it came down to vanilla versus chocolate, I might go chocolate, but I love the taste of good pure vanilla. I recently have started using vanilla bean paste in my cooking versus vanilla extract. I like to see the specs of the vanilla bean throughout my cookies and cakes. You can substitute one for the other and the exact amount i.e. 1 tablespoon equals 1 tablespoon. If you prefer vanilla extract that is a personal choice, but please splurge for real vanilla, and not imitation. Trust me, you’ll be able to tell the difference and so will your friends and family.

Other types of extracts are you can use are coconut, almond and peppermint. They can be used to flavor cakes, cookies, bars, and frosting‘s. 

Espresso powder was a secret that I learned from the queen herself, Ina Garten. Even if you don’t like coffee, the use of espresso powder in cakes and brownies amplifies that deep chocolate flavor. Trust me, if it calls for espresso powder, you don’t want to skip it.

A few extra things.

I like to have rolled oats in my cabinet so if I am in the mood to make granola, I can pull everything out and throw it together pretty easily. I also will use it in oatmeal and monster cookies. Believe it or not sometimes even as a binding agent in meatloaf!

There are also steel cut oats which have a different texture so do not substitute or your recipe might not work. Most recipes will call for rolled oats, at least in baking. I like to buy mine in bulk at my grocery store but nothings wrong with good old fashioned Quaker oats.

Cornmeal is something I use a lot when I’m using my pizza peel. It will help the pizza dough slide off the peel into the pizza oven with ease. Put some cornmeal down on your peel, along with a little flour prior to dough and it helps move that dough without the stick. He also needs cornmeal for things like Johnny cakes, cornbread, and, of course, corn muffins. 

Spice makes everything nice

I know that baking spices do not determine a season, but there’s some thing about the warmth of these spices that make you feel warm inside. It’s like fall with a big blanket wrapped around you or Christmas morning opening presents. Do you know what I mean?

Cinnamon is a staple in my cabinet. Not only do I use it in baking but I do also use it and some savory cooking. I also like to have cinnamon sticks on hand for drinks. I do not grate a cinnamon stick like I do nutmeg, but you are welcome to do so.

Nutmeg I like to have whole pods. There is some thing about the taste of freshly ground nutmeg. My favorite thing to put nutmeg in in creamed spinach! Just a touch makes all of the difference. Once you’ve used a pod on a micro plane, it does not mean you have to get rid of it. I keep it in a small plastic bag in my spice drawer and continue to use it until it’s too small to grate.

Cloves. My memory of cloves as a child were them hurting my fingers as I tried to poke the whole cloves into oranges to make Christmas decorations at 4-H. The look of an orange with cloves screams Holiday time. A clove filled orange, floating any vat of hot mulled wine or apple cider, warms my heart. For baking I usually have a very small jar of ground cloves as I don’t use the spice very often. Lends a very warm spice to baked goods.

Cardamom is one of those spices that isn’t used a lot but when you have it as an ingredient in a dish, you know what it is. Cardamom is originally a spice from India. It’s grown in Sri Lanka and other locations in that part of the world. I know cardamom as a spice used in a lot of Scandinavian cooking. The theory is that the Vikings brought cardamom from Istanbul to Sweden and Norway. It offers a slightly citrus flavor that is reminiscent of a pungent lemon.

I love the warmth that ground ginger can bring to food. It’s very strong so you only a little bit, but it always makes me feel good. I love fresh ginger also but that has more of a pungent taste where the ground ginger root is a little more mild.

That brings us to pumpkin pie spice. It wraps it all of these flavors together and adds mace. It has all the spices in it in the perfect proportion that I have only used in pumpkin desserts. 

All things chocolate

Let’s talk chocolate! I don’t bake chocolate chip cookies very often, but when I do, I want the best chips out there. I really love the taste of a semi-sweet chocolate chip in a traditional Toll-House cookie.

That being said, there is such a variety out in the market now for different shapes like chunks versus chips. So I say do what makes you happy if you like more of a milk, chocolate flavor than use, milk, chocolate. A lot of people, like my mom, like bittersweet chocolate. Some recipes will call for both a mixture and I love doing that.

I believe that you get out what you put in as far as your ingredients go. Cocoa powder is one of those things that you really want a good quality powder to capture that chocolate flavor to the best of your ability. It is similar to what I mentioned above about vanilla. Good quality does make a difference. I do appreciate that these things can be more expensive but when you break it down per recipe it is a little easier to swallow.

Baking staples summary

I hope that this has helped you understand some differences between different flours, sugars and other baking essentials. You do not have to have all of these products in your cabinet to be a successful baker. My biggest suggestion is to review all ingredients in your recipe prior to starting to cook so you don’t have to scrap what you are doing or be disappointed when you punt.

Bon appetit!