I love palm sugar, when can I bake with it
I am a huge fan of Palm sugar and have taken to substituting a bit of it into some of my baking recipes. However I have been hesitant to involve it too much in certain steps of the baking process like when yeast is proofing, or when making dough, or in frostings.
Is palm sugar a viable substitute for granulated sugar or brown sugar? What kinds of baking steps can I experiment substituting it in without changing texture and quality too much?
Best Answer
Yes, absolutely you can. However, you may need to make adjustments.
First, there's water content. Palm sugar has a relatively high water content out of the cake, almost 4%. That's compared to less than 2% for brown sugar, and about 0.4% for white granulated sugar. So you'll need to adjust the water content of your recipes accordingly.
Also, palm sugar won't brown the same way other sugars do. Particularly, white granulated sugar is good for crispy baked goods because it melts well without giving off water, and you won't expect that effect from palm sugar. Further, since you generally need to grate palm sugar yourself, it won't have the large crystals like granulated sugar does.
Overall, I'd suggest that you'd get the best results substituting palm sugar into recipes that call for brown sugar, and otherwise into recipes for cakes, rolls, muffins, and similar things that don't rely on the sugar's texture.
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Can I bake with palm sugar?
Some liken palm sugar's flavor to butterscotch or caramel, or like brown sugar without the metallic after-taste. Its low melt temperature and extremely high burn temperature mean it can be used in both cooking and baking in place of cane sugar.Where can you use palm sugar?
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Often used in Asian food dishes, palm sugar has a flavor that is similar to a combination of molasses and brown sugar. It is a sugar that is used to flavor beverages, curries, rice dishes, desserts, and candies.Is palm sugar better than normal sugar?
More Antioxidants than Other Sugars Research shows that palm sugar contains higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients than other sugars. This nutritional content includes phytonutrients. These plant-based compounds have an antioxidant effect, which prevents cell damage that can lead to chronic diseases.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Jill Wellington, Pixabay, Monstera, Monstera