Sugar Substitution

Honey can replace cane sugar in almost any recipe. Since honeys are of different flavours and compositions, however, such replacements may result in changes of flavour, consistency, cooking times and the quantities of other ingredients required. In industrial baked products honey is therefore only used to replace small quantities of sugar. In addition, strong flavoured or dark, cheap honeys are preferred since less honey is required to obtain some honey flavour and consequently, less of the cheaper sugar has to be replaced. When substituting most or all of the sugar with honey, mild-flavoured honeys may be more desirable as they will not overpower other flavours of the product.

Since honey is denser than crystallized, packed sugar and therefore has greater sweetening power per volume than sugar, most cookery books recommend the use of 1 cup of honey for 1 ¼ cups of sugar or that 1 cup of sugar can be replaced by 4/5 of a cup of honey. Recommendations are not uniform, and others recommend replacing 1 cup of sugar with only ½ to ³A of a cup of honey. When recipes are given in weight, honey can be substituted approximately 1:1 or, considering the moisture content, add up to 20% more honey in weight than sugar. The extra water added in the form of honey needs to be accounted for as well. Thus for every cup of honey added, approximately 1/5 to ¼ of a cup less liquid should be used in the recipe. By weight: for every 1 kg of sugar substituted by 1000-1200 g of honey, 180-200 g (180-200 ml) less water should be used. For most corn syrups, honey can be substituted 1:1 by weight as well as by volume, even though corn syrup often contains more water than honey. For industrial quantities more specific calculations based also on the sugar composition of the specific honey, are necessary.

Too much honey in a recipe may cause too much browning in a baked product. To neutralize the acidity of honey (unless sour cream or sour milk is called for in the recipe) add a pinch of baking soda. If honey is substituted in jams, jellies or candies, slightly higher temperatures must be used in cooking, but conversely, when baking bread, lower temperatures are required. In candies, more persistent beating (mixing) and slightly higher caramelization temperatures are needed. Also careful packaging and storage of the final product may be required to prevent absorption of atmospheric moisture.

When using honey for a recipe that also involves use of oil or fat, measure the oil or fat first in the measuring container. Removal of honey from the same container will then be easier and more complete.