Muscovado

A measuring cup containing muscovado (left) and one containing regular brown sugar (right).

Muscovado is a type of unrefined brown sugar with a strong molasses flavor.

Also known as "Barbados sugar" or "moist sugar," muscovado is very dark brown and slightly coarser and stickier than most brown sugars. Unlike most other brown sugars, which are made by adding molasses to refined white sugar, muscovado takes its flavor and color from its source, sugarcane juice. It offers good resistance to high temperatures and has a reasonably long shelf life. It is commonly used in baking recipes and making whiskey. Muscovado sugar can be used in most recipes where brown sugar is called for, by slightly reducing the liquid content of the recipe.^[1]

Muscovado sugar has 11 calories/ 4 grams (approx. 1 tsp). When produced under regulated conditions, it is nutritionally richer than other brown sugars or refined sugar, and retains most of the natural minerals inherent in sugarcane juice, as shown in this chart:^[2]

Mineral Content of Muscovado Sugar (Per 100g)

Total Mineral salts 740 mg max.

Phosphorus (P) 3.9 mg max.

Calcium (Ca) 85 mg max.

Magnesium (Mg) 23 mg max.

Potassium (K) 100 mg max.

Iron (Fe) 1.3 mg max

This unrefined sugar goes well with coffee and other beverages, and was one of the most prominent export commodities of the Philippines, especially from the Negros region from the 1800s until the late 1970s.^[3] The production of muscovado sugar in the Philippines, Barbados, and elsewhere had experienced a long period of decline when large mills took over sugar production from small farmers with small mills, until consumer interest in healthy and organic foods revived interest in muscovado sugar, creating a market for muscovado sugar production from small mills once more.^[4]

References

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