Sweet on the world

Sugars from different nations bring new flavors, textures

By KATHLEEN PURVIS
Knight Ridder Newspapers

Go in your kitchen and look at the sugar. White sand, white powder or brown clumps: White sugar, confectioners’ sugar, brown sugar.

What else is there?

Going through Asian, Indian and Latino stores, it was easy to fill a box with sugars.

Then we took them to pastry chef Geoff Blount’s shop on N.C. 16 in Denver, about 20 miles north of Charlotte, N.C., where the glass case in front is full of swan-necked cream puffs, chocolate tarts and his well-known oatmeal fudge bars.

Tasting each, his face lit up. He noted the flavors and the way Asian sugars have honey, tropical fruit and coconut overtones, while the Mexican sugars are meatier.

In the kitchen, the rule is usually that cooking is art, while baking is chemistry. Changing recipes in baking can come at the cook’s peril.

For instance, moisture levels are different in different sugars, particularly brown sugars.

But Blount encouraged us to go into the kitchen and play.

“Think about a brownie,” he said. “Does everybody realize a brownie is an accident?” Some baker just used baking soda instead of baking powder while making a chocolate cake.

Need a sugar fix?

• Maltose, yellow lump, rock sugar and palm sugar: Look for these in an Asian market.

• Jaggery, rough and smooth: Look for it in Indian stores.

• Piloncillo and azucar morena: These are found in Mexican stores.

• Castor (superfine), demerara and muscavado: These are found in gourmet shops and sometimes in supermarkets.

Maltose-glazed chicken wings

1/4 cup maltose or liquefied malt sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot
About 2 pounds chicken wings, cut in two pieces, wing tips discarded

Place all the ingredients in a glass bowl, but don’t attempt to stir. Place the bowl in a microwave and heat about 2 minutes at 80 percent power, until maltose is melted.

Whisk to combine. (Or place ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium low heat until maltose melts.)

Place chicken wings in a 1-gallon resealable bag or in a deep bowl. Add maltose mixture. Seal bag and turn to distribute, or stir wings in bowl to combine.

Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight, turning bag or stirring in bowl occasionally.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a roasting or broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place wings in pan in a single layer.

Roast for 25 minutes, turning wings once with tongs.

Place under broiler for about 5 minutes to brown, watching closely to keep sugar from burning.

Makes about about 1/2 cup, enough for about 20 chicken wings. You could also use this as a marinade for spare ribs. Maltose is very sticky. Rinse utensils and your fingers with cold water before handling it.

Rolled sugar cookies

2/3 cup butter-flavored shortening
3/4 cup sugar (your choice)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
4 teaspoons milk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place shortening, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, then milk.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. With mixer on low, beat into batter in a couple of additions, until just blended.

Divide dough in two. Pat into disc shapes, wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Roll out 1 section of dough on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin dusted with a little flour. Cut into desired shapes. Reroll scraps once and cut into shapes.

Place cookies on a nonstick cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes, until just brown around the edges. Remove with a spatula and cool on racks.

Makes about 2 dozen. To try the sugars, we used them in this basic cookie dough, adapted from the 1968 edition of the “Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.”

Crème brulee

2-1/2 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar (we used Mexican azucar morena)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar, or ground-up palm sugar, jaggery or piloncillo

Pour cream into a large saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the cream, then add the pieces of pod.

Bring cream and vanilla to a low boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Remove the pod, but leave in the tiny vanilla seeds.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale yellow. Whisk about 2 tablespoons of the warm cream into the egg yolks. Slowly whisk the yolk mixture into the warm cream.

Bring 3 to 4 cups of water to boil in a pan or kettle. Place about 6 heat-proof ramekins or custard cups in a large roasting pan. Divide the mixture evenly between the cups.

Place the roasting pan on the oven shelf. Pour in boiling water to reach about halfway up the sides of the cups. Slide into oven.

Bake until custard is set but a little jiggly, about 30 minutes. Carefully remove pan from oven and use tongs to transfer dishes to a rack to cool.

Preheat broiler (or use a small hand-held torch). Sprinkle dark sugar evenly over the top of each cup. Place cups under broiler or use torch to melt the sugar until it is just brown, being careful not to burn.

Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.

Makes about 6 servings. Adapted from “The Pat Conroy Cookbook” (Nan A. Talese, 2004).

Basic pecan pie

1 unbaked pie shell
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar (your choice)
Dash of salt
1 cup corn syrup (dark or light, depending on sugar)
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup shelled pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line pie shell with unbaked pie crust.

Beat eggs, sugar, salt and corn syrup with electric mixer. Add melted butter and beat until combined. Stir in pecans.

Pour into pie crust. Bake about 50 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. (Pie may still be a little syrupy if you use softer sugars.)

Remove from oven and cool. Chill before slicing if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 1 (9-inch) pie. Adapted from the 1968 edition of the “Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.”