ranges from mild caramel to strong molasses Using Brown Sugars Brown sugar is soft and clingy because its molasses film — whose glucose and fructose are more hygroscopic than sucrose — contains a significant amount of water Of course, if brown sugar is left exposed to dry air, it will lose its moisture through evaporation and become hard and lumpy It can be kept moist by storing it in an airtight container, and resoftened by closing it up with a damp towel or piece of apple from which it can absorb moisture Because brown sugar tends to trap air pockets between groups of adhering crystals, it should be packed down before its volume is measured Molasses and Cane Syrups Molasses Molasses, which is called treacle in the United Kingdom, is generally defined as the syrup left over in cane sugar processing after the readily crystallizable sucrose has been removed from the boiled juice (There is such a thing as beet molasses, but it has a strong, unpleasant odor, and so is used to feed animals and industrial fermentation microbes.) In order to extract as much sucrose as possible from cane juices, crystallization is performed in several different steps, each of which results in a different grade of molasses “First” molasses is the product of centrifuging off the raw sugar crystals, and still contains some sucrose It is then mixed with some uncrystallized sugar syrup, recrystallized, and recentrifuged The resulting “second” molasses is even more concentrated in impurities than the first Repeating this process once more yields “third,” or final, or “blackstrap” molasses (from the Dutch stroop for “syrup”) The brown-black color of final molasses is due to the extreme caramelization of the remaining sugars and to chemical reactions induced by the high temperatures reached during the repeated boilings These reactions, together with the high concentration ... “blackstrap” molasses (from the Dutch stroop for “syrup”) The brown-black color of final molasses is due to the extreme caramelization of the remaining sugars and to chemical reactions induced by the high temperatures... different steps, each of which results in a different grade of molasses “First” molasses is the product of centrifuging off the raw sugar crystals, and still contains some sucrose It is then mixed with... uncrystallized sugar syrup, recrystallized, and recentrifuged The resulting “second” molasses is even more concentrated in impurities than the first Repeating this process once more yields “third,” or final, or “blackstrap” molasses (from the Dutch stroop