Pie and Pastry Bible (178 page)

GRANULATIONS AND FORMS OF REFINED SUGAR
All 99.9 percent refined sucrose has equal sweetening power despite the degree of granulation. The only difference in content between granulated and powdered sugar is that powdered sugar has 3 percent cornstarch added to prevent lumping.

Regular granulated or fine granulated:
This is the all-purpose sugar found in most sugar bowls and available in all supermarkets. This granulation is suitable for making syrups, but for most baking, a finer granulation is preferable. Using a food processor, it is possible to make a more finely granulated sugar, but the crystals will not be as uniform in size as in commercially produced finer-grain sugar. Don’t confuse the term
fine granulated
with
superfine,
which is much finer.

Extra-fine:
Available to the trade, this sugar is also known as fruit sugar because it is used in the preservation of fruits. Most professional bakers use this granulation as their all-purpose sugar if they can’t find baker’s special. Finer sugar dissolves more easily and makes lighter, more delicate meringues.

Baker’s special:
Available to the trade, this sugar is slightly finer than extra-fine and almost as fine as superfine. This is the perfect granulation for all baking. A close approximation can easily be made in the food processor using a coarser granulation and processing for a few minutes.

Castor sugar:
This is a term that appears in British cookbooks. The sugar, commonplace in England, is slightly finer than baker’s special. If you are converting a British recipe, substitute baker’s special or the more widely available superfine sugar.

Superfine or ultrafine:
This is the finest granulation of sugar and comes only in 1-pound boxes. It is sometimes called
bar sugar
because it is used in bars to make drinks that require fast-dissolving sugar. For the same reason, it is ideal for making meringues and fillings.

Loaf or cube sugar:
This is merely granulated sugar that has been pressed into molds when moist and then allowed to dry so it maintains the shape. Some recipes, particularly in the confectionery area, specify loaf sugar because at one time it was more refined. Today, this is not the case. In fact, because of modern methods of manufacturing, the cubes have traces of oil from the molds, which makes them less desirable for sugar boiling.

Medium coarse and coarse pearl sugar, or sanding sugar:
These are the first crystals that form in the refining process and are therefore the purest. It is also known as “strong” sugar because it resists color changes and inversion at high temperatures, which will result in stickiness. Because of the absence of impurities, this type of sugar is ideal for confections and cordials and also for preparing caramel, because impurities in other types of sugar can cause crystallization. These large granules are sometimes used to sprinkle on cookies and pastries.

Powdered, confectioners’, or icing sugar:
While it is possible to achieve a very fine granulation in the food processor, it is not possible to make true powdered sugar.
This can only be done commercially. At one time, powdered sugar was stoneground, but now it is ground in steel magnesium rotaries that turn against screens of varying degrees of finess, each one determining a different fineness of the grind. The coarser the granulation of the initial sugar, the more even will be the final grind. As might be expected, the finer the granulation, the greater the tendency of the sugar to lump, which explains why 3 percent cornstarch is added to absorb any moisture from the air before the sugar can. The cornstarch also adds what is perceived as a raw taste and makes powdered sugar less suitable than granulated sugar for use with ingredients that are not cooked.

Powdered sugar comes in three degrees of fineness: 10X, the finest (available in supermarkets), and 6X and 4X, both of which are available to the trade.

DEXTROSE
Dextrose is powdered corn sugar. Its sweetening power is much lower than sucrose and it does not dissolve as readily when sprinkled on whole berries or the surface of a pie, making it ideal to use for stenciling designs and other garnishes.

SUGAR SYRUPS
When making a sugar syrup for Italian meringue or classic buttercream, for example, the sugar is concentrated to produce a supersaturated solution from a saturated one. A saturated sugar solution contains the maximum amount of sugar possible at room temperature without precipitating out into crystals. A supersaturated sugar solution contains more sugar than the water can dissolve at room temperature. Heating the solution enables the sugar to dissolve. Cold water is capable of holding double its weight in sugar, but if it is heated, more sugar can dissolve in the same amount of water. A sugar solution begins with sugar partially dissolved in at least one third its weight of cold water. It is stirred continuously until boiling, at which time all the sugar is dissolved. If sugar crystals remain on the sides of the pan, they should be washed down with a wet pastry brush. The solution is now considered supersaturated and, to avoid crystallization, must no longer be stirred.

As the water evaporates, the temperature of the solution rises and the density increases. Concentration of the syrup is dependent on the amount of water left after evaporation. The temperature of the syrup indicates the concentration. As long as there is a lot of water in the syrup, the temperature does not rise much above the boiling point of the water. But when most of the water has boiled away, the temperature can rise dramatically, passing through various stages (see page 649) and eventually rising to the temperature of melted sugar (320°F.) when all the water is gone.

Concentration can also be measured by density, using a saccharometer or Baumé sugar weight scale. A Baume scale is graduated from 0° to 44° and corresponds in a direct relationship to degrees Fahrenheit or Centigrade. The degree of evaporation can also be measured by consistency by dropping a small amount of the syrup into ice water.

Supersaturated solutions are highly unstable and recrystallization can occur from agitation or even just on standing unless the solution was properly heated in the first place. The use of an “interfering agent,” such as invert sugar (a little more
than one quarter of the weight of the granulated sugar), butter, cream of tartar, or citric acid, helps keep the solution stable by interfering with the crystalline structure formation. This is useful when the solution will be used in a way that will involve repeatedly dipping into it, such as making spun sugar.

As melted sugar reaches higher temperatures, many chemical changes begin to occur. The sugar cannot start to caramelize until all the water has evaporated. As it starts to caramelize, its sweetening power decreases. At this point, when all the water has evaporated, stirring will no longer cause the sugar to crystallize. The addition of a significant amount of an ingredient, such as nuts, however, can lower the temperature considerably and this will cause crystallization to occur instantly if no interfering agent has been used.

Caramel is extremely difficult to make in humid weather because sugar is highly hygroscopic (attracts water). The moisture in the air will make the caramel sticky.
A ½ cup of sugar makes ¼ cup of caramel (plus the residue that clings to the pot).
If cooled, set, and pulverized, it returns to its original volume.

When a sugar syrup has been prepared in advance, it is sometimes necessary to check the exact quantity of sugar and water it contains. It is important to know that the Baume reading of a cold solution will measure slightly higher than the same solution when hot.

Another variant that affects density reading is altitude. Because water boils at a lower temperature as altitude increases (there is less air pressure weighing on top of the water to prevent it from changing from liquid into vapor), there will be a different temperature for the same concentration of sugar syrup at different altitudes. For each increase of 500 feet in elevation, sugar syrup should be cooked to a temperature 1°F. lower than the temperature called for at sea level. If readings are
taken in Celsius, for each 900 feet of elevation, cook the syrup to a temperature 1°C. lower than called for at sea level. These adjustments should be made up to 320°F., the melting point of sugar; altitude does not change this.

HONEY
This golden syrup is the only sweetener that needs no additional refining or processing to be used. There are about 300 different varieties of honeys, ranging in flavor from mild to bold, depending on the type of flowers from which the bees gathered the nectar (the National Honey Board likes to say, “The flavor of honey is determined by where the bees buzzed.”). In baking, it’s fun to experiment with different varieties, but I find that the milder flavors blend best with other flavors. My favorite honey is thyme, which has a delicate, floral sweetness, multidimensional flavor, and purity. Tupelo, which is also mild, has a heavy body and distinctive taste. I brought back a lavender honey from Provence that truly has the background echo of lavender. I also love avocado and eucalyptus honeys and certain wildflower honeys, particularly the Hellas brand (page 676).

Honey is composed of 32 to 42 percent fructose, glucose, sucrose, and other sugars and water. It is the high percentage of fructose, which is more hygroscopic than other sugars, that makes baked goods made with honey stay moist longer, become soft on standing, and feel chewier in the mouth. Honey has a higher sweetening power and caramelization properties than sugar, causing baked goods to brown more quickly. Because of honey’s water content, a rule of thumb for replacing part of the sugar in a recipe with honey is to decrease the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup for each cup used.

Because honey is essentially a supersaturated solution (water that holds an extra amount of sugar), it crystallizes over time. It is best stored at room temperature or in the freezer. Crystallized honey can be reliquefied easily by placing the container in warm water until the crystals dissolve or microwaving it, stirring every 30 seconds. (One cup will take 2 to 3 minutes on high power.) When I use it in a filling, such as in the Gâteau Engadine (page 291), to prevent crystallization after baking, I add a little corn syrup to the honey.

THICKENERS

The most popular starches used to thicken pie fillings are cornstarch and tapioca.

CORNSTARCH
Cornstarch is made from corn.

TAPIOCA
From a Portuguese word that means pudding, tapioca is made from the cassava root. Cassava powder is tapioca before it is subjected to the “beading” process, which gives it a pebbly texture desirable in puddings. As silky smoothness is the goal in a filling or glaze, cassava is more suitable than tapioica for these purposes. Tapioca is particularly unsuitable for a lattice pie or one made without a crust, because the grains on the surface become dry and hard. Cassava is available in Asian food stores and from the King Arthur catalogue (page 676).

ARROWROOT
Made from a tropical rhizome (underground stem), arrowroot derives its name from its use in the seventeenth century to treat arrow wounds. Arrowroot has a slight sparkle, which makes it popular for glazes to top fruit.
Because it starts to thicken long before the boiling point, it is not suitable for fruit pies that require longer baking to soften the fruit.

All three starches have twice the thickening power of flour.

HOW STARCHES WORK TO THICKEN LIQUID
Starches accomplish thickening by the absorption of liquid. As the starch granules absorb the liquid, they swell and become fragile. It is, therefore, very important when making a glaze not to stir vigorously after thickening has occurred, because you will break down these fragile, swollen granules, releasing the fluid they contain.

THICKENING POINTS
Prolonged cooking past the thickening point will also break down the starch and thin the glaze. Cornstarch does not thicken until it has reached a full boil (212°F.), cassava thickens as soon as it begins to boil; and arrowroot thickens before the boiling point, at only 158° to 176°F.

THICKENERS FOR PIE FILLINGS
The starch thickener for a pie filling is one of the most important ingredients in pie making. A pie with a watery filling resulting from not enough thickener and a pie with a pasty or rubbery filling resulting from too much thickener are equally undesirable.

Cornstarch and cassava have different qualities and I have thought long and hard and performed countless tests and combinations to determine which is superior. Hands down, cornstarch is my favorite for both flavor and texture. Some people feel that cassava masks the flavor of the fruit less than cornstarch does, but to my taste the cornstarch actually enhances the fruit, making it seem sweeter, though not in a cloying or sugary sense, more flavorful and harmonious, and brighter in color. Also, cornstarch, if used in the correct proportions, when set still has a little flow, which cassava does not. And while cassava never becomes rubbery, or bouncy, when used in a filling it has a stretchy quality, almost seeming to sheet in the mouth. Another advantage to cornstarch is that, unlike cassava, it does not thin on reheating, should you decide to reheat a slice of pie.