How to Cream Sugar and Alternative Sweeteners for Baking

We have all heard that baking is a science, but do you know how sugar functions in your baked goods? Join pastry chef Colette Christian as she shares everything you need to know about sugar and helps you understand how it effects flavor, color, tenderness, texture, and even the rise of your baked goods. Explore the common types of sugar with Colette, from white granulated sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar and liquid sugars, like pure clover honey and molasses. She shares her essential techniques and guidance for substituting honey for sugar in your recipes, as well as a side-by-side comparison of a classic chocolate chip cookie and one made with honey.

Colette finishes up this lesson with a recipe for perfect blueberry muffins using the traditional creaming method. Included are tips and tricks on mastering the creaming method, troubleshooting broken emulsions, using frozen blueberries without turning your batter blue and testing muffins for doneness. Finally, she compares two finished muffins and examines the crumbs of an over-baked and under-creamed muffin to a perfectly baked fluffy muffin. Keep practicing successful baking with Collette’s bonus recipe for Gingerbread!