Week 38 It's sweet stuff this week!

Week 38: SWEETNERS Honey, Karo, Molasses, etc. Counts towards sugars.

Sugar

White sugar is a good all around sweetener. It can be stored in large buckets and used for just about everything. As anyone who has ever lived in a tropical environment will tell you, sugar stored with high humidity will clump up so be sure to store it in a very dry environment.

Brown sugar has a touch of the processing syrup still in it, or remixed in later. Brown sugar will stay softer longer and has a richer flavor than white sugar. If you are adding this instead of white sugar to a recipe, expect to decrease the liquids a bit.

Syrup is slightly altered sugar that is formed into a liquid that resists crystallization. Only store this if you are used to baking or cooking with it already.

Molasses

Molasses is produced from both sugar beets and sugar cane. The benefit of using molasses over sugar in baking or cooking is the extra nutrients molasses contains. Although most bakers will be most familiar with molasses in gingerbread cookies, you can substitute it anywhere honey or maple syrup is used.

Agave

Agave nectar or syrup is made from the agave plant native to northern Mexico and southwest US. Agave has many nutrients and a very mild flavor. It resists crystallization well and can be used in place of honey in baking.

Honey

Honey is produced by honeybees and has been used as a sweetener since early Egyptian times. Honey has many nutrients and has very distinctive flavors based on what flowers the bees visited to create the honey. Honey can crystallize especially if the honey was harvested in fall or in a dry climate. It is easy to re-liquefy by placing the bottle in warm water though it is perfectly usable in crystallized form.  Honey can also be used for first aid purposes.

Maple Syrup

Like honey, maple syrup can vary in flavor and color depending on the source plants. Maple syrup is graded on color and flavor and the darker syrup is stronger in flavor and color. Maple syrup can be used where ever honey or agave are used but it will impart a distinct flavor.

Our food storage would get pretty boring if we didn't have some sweet stuff in it!  So please don't forget when we are cooking with beans and other of our food storage staples add just a little sweet stuff to help with the flavor.  Have a great week!