Pronounce it: shuh-ga

Honey and syrups made from concentrated fruit juice were the earliest known sweeteners. Today, refined sugar is the most popular type of sweetener and it is made from sugar cane or sugar beet.

There are several different types of sugar which add a range of textures, tints and flavours to cooking. These broadly fall into two categories, brown and white sugars.

BROWN SUGARS 

Golden caster sugar: loosely packed with a warm, golden colour, golden caster sugar is a fine sugar that is ideal for use in creamed sponge cakes.

Demerara/raw sugar: darker than golden caster sugar and with a more intense flavour, demerara works well in coffee and sprinkled over sharp fruits such as grapefruit. With its coarse texture, it creates a lovely topping for cakes, cupcakes and crumbles.

Light brown soft sugar: a popular sugar for making fruit cakes and puddings where a rich, full flavour is required.

Dark brown soft sugar: looks as its name suggests and has a richer flavour. It works well in cakes, gingerbread, pickles and chutneys.

Light and dark muscovado sugar: is relatively unrefined with much or all of the molasses still remaining. It has a dark treacle-y flavour which is ideal in sticky gingerbread or rich fruit cakes.

WHITE SUGARS 

These are refined brown sugars. They taste sweeter than their counterparts.

Granulated sugar: this sugar makes a good addition to a cup of tea or sprinkled over fresh fruit such as strawberries. It’s a good all-purpose sugar for cooking.

Caster sugar: finer than granulated, caster sugar dissolves more easily, making it ideal for cakes, custards and mousses. It’s also perfect for snowy white meringues.

Icing sugar: this is white sugar ground to a fine powder with the addition of an anti-caking agent such as calcium phosphate or cornflour. It dissolves on contact with liquid and is therefore used to sweeten foods that are not going to be heated and that require a smooth texture. It is also used for dusting cakes and desserts and as the name suggests for various types of icing including buttercream and glacé icing.

Store it

Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.