Brown sugar

[sharonb]

I don't know if this subject has been addressed here, but I find it hard to come up with a good substitute for American brown sugar in baking recipes. Cassonade has some of the caramelized tastes of brown sugar, but without the stickiness that seems to make for more toothsome cookies.

Any thoughts or substitutions?

[Ptipois]

As often in France the answer is in "magasins bio" and health food stores, where you may find muscovado sugar, panela, soft brown sugar, light brown sugar, and even Demerara sugar in some places. You may also find a comparable range in gourmet stores like La Grande Epicerie or Lafayette Gourmet.

In more everyday stores you may still find "vergeoise" which is soft sugar, brown (vergeoise brune) or light (vergeoise blonde). Though these are beet sugar, not cane.

A good substitute for the sugar you are looking for could be vergeoise brune (beet) or muscovado sugar (cane). Cane sugar, of course, tastes better.

Edited June 6, 2007 by Ptipois (log)