Demerara Sugar substitute

Substitutes for Demerara Sugar with ratios

1. 2Any Coarse Raw Cane, Sanding or Pearl Sugar (for topping only)

   Different taste

   Use the same amount by volume

   When demerara is going on top of something rather than into it, crystal size is the whole point and colour and molasses are secondary.

   What changes

   Any big-crystal sugar will give you the sparkle and the crunch.

   Best for

   scone and muffin tops, sugar cookies, pie crust edges, banana bread, shortbread, cinnamon buns

   White sanding sugar gives you the same crackle but the top looks bright white rather than warm amber, and you lose the faint toffee note that demerara adds as it half-melts in the oven. Pearl sugar is even bigger and stays as distinct white nuggets rather than softening at all, which is lovely on a Belgian-style bun and wrong on a delicate scone.

2. 3Light Brown Sugar

   Different texture

   Use the same amount by weight, only where the sugar dissolves

   Similar molasses level, similar caramel flavour, and almost always in the cupboard.

   What changes

   The right answer whenever the demerara is being creamed into butter, whisked into a batter or melted into a syrup.

   Best for

   cakes and cookie dough, sticky toffee pudding, black cake, caramel sauce, marinades, syrups

   Brown sugar is soft, fine and moist, which changes two things. It cannot give you a crunchy top, full stop, so do not use it as a sprinkle. And it adds a little extra moisture, so cookies made with it spread slightly more and come out chewier and softer than the crisper result demerara gives. Pack it into the cup or weigh it, and break up any lumps first.

3. 4Granulated Sugar Plus Molasses

   Different texture

   1 cup granulated sugar plus 1 teaspoon molasses equals 1 cup demerara, for dissolved uses

   The build-it-yourself version, and a genuinely accurate one for flavour.

   What changes

   Demerara only carries a little molasses, which is why the amount here is half what you would use to make light brown sugar.

   Best for

   cakes and batters, cocktail syrups, caramel, barbecue sauces, rum punch

   The flavour lands very close, but the texture does not: you get fine damp crystals rather than big dry ones, so this is useless for a topping and slightly softens baked goods the way brown sugar does. Rub the molasses into the sugar with your fingertips or a fork until there are no dark streaks, otherwise you get pockets of bitterness. Treacle or dark cane syrup works in place of molasses at the same amount.

4. 5Plain Granulated White Sugar

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by weight

   Perfectly usable in most recipes, and the honest fallback when you have nothing else.

   What changes

   Ninety-eight percent of demerara is just sugar.

   Best for

   cakes, cookies, syrups, coffee, sweetening drinks and sauces

   What you lose is the warm toffee background and the amber colour, so a demerara shortbread made with white sugar tastes cleaner and paler and reads as a plain shortbread, and a demerara syrup in an old fashioned goes from rounded and molasses-tinged to sharply sweet. In a heavily spiced cake, a spiced rum punch or anything with chocolate in it, the difference is almost invisible.

5. 6Muscovado or Coconut Sugar

   Different texture

   Use the same amount by weight, for dissolved uses only

   Both are darker and more strongly flavoured than demerara, and both work when you want more depth rather than a neutral match.

   What changes

   Best for

   black cake, gingerbread, sticky toffee pudding, barbecue sauce, dark rum cocktails

   Muscovado is wet, sticky and heavily molasses-flavoured, so it takes a bake several shades darker and much more assertive, which is wonderful in a Caribbean black cake and overpowering in a plain vanilla sponge. Coconut sugar is dry and crumbly with a smoky butterscotch note and slightly less sweetening power, so you may want a little extra. Neither gives crunch.