What is Demerara Sugar and How Can You Use It?

Sugar is a key ingredient in both cooking and baking, and it's a must-have in every pantry. But sugar comes in various forms, textures, colors, and even flavors, each suited to different uses. When you encounter "demerara" sugar in a recipe or spot its coarse grains on store shelves, you might be curious about it. Let's dive in.

What is Demerara Sugar?

Demerara sugar is a lightly processed sugar, derived from sugarcane. Unlike refined white sugar, it undergoes minimal processing, leaving behind traces of molasses and micronutrients. This gives it a golden-brown color, coarse texture, and larger crystals.

Although commonly called "raw sugar," this term is misleading because the sugarcane juice is still boiled during the production of demerara sugar. Its name comes from the Demerara region of British Guyana in South America, and it's particularly popular in England due to its origins.

What Does Demerara Sugar Taste Like?

Thanks to the molasses left behind, demerara sugar offers a mild caramel flavor, often compared to toffee. It shares similarities with brown sugar, which is created by reintroducing molasses into refined sugar.

Muscovado sugar, another type of unrefined sugar, comes from Barbados. It’s darker, moister, and boasts an even stronger molasses taste.

How to Use Demerara Sugar in Cooking

Due to its larger crystals, demerara sugar takes longer to dissolve in recipes. It also brings more depth of flavor compared to regular white sugar, which can be a plus in some dishes, though not always desirable. In his book How to Bake Everything, Mark Bittman suggests that while demerara sugar can often replace white sugar, you may need to extend the cooking time to ensure it melts completely. If needed, you can also grind it into a finer texture using a food processor or spice grinder before adding it to recipes.

The crunchy texture of demerara sugar makes it ideal for sprinkling over cookies, quick breads, and other baked goods like scones or muffins. It also enhances the flavor of pies, such as pumpkin pie, and provides a shortcut to that rich caramelized taste in dishes that are broiled or torched, like crème brûlée or this Fig Brûlée with Burrata Cheese recipe. It also works beautifully when stirred into hot drinks like tea or specialty coffee, where it dissolves easily.

If you can't find demerara sugar, turbinado sugar or dark brown sugar are good alternatives.

Where to Buy and How to Store Demerara Sugar

You can find demerara sugar in the baking aisle of most well-stocked supermarkets or specialty shops like Whole Foods, as well as in kitchenware and baking supply stores, both in-person and online. The brand India Tree, which specializes in baking ingredients, offers demerara sugar in one-pound plastic bags.

Due to its slight moisture content, demerara sugar should be stored similarly to brown sugar: in an airtight container or tightly sealed plastic bag to protect it from moisture and air.