The proverb says: "You can't spoil porridge with butter." Is it possible to spoil a biscuit if you add more or less sugar to it?
They often write to me in the comments to recipes: “What will happen if you put less sugar?”, “And if you put more sugar?” Such questions surprise me. If I cook according to a recipe, I never deviate from the proportions indicated in it.
There can be no exceptions. If you change the amount of ingredients, then the result will always be different from what is written in the recipe. Of course, 2-3 grams of sugar will not play a role, but what happens if the amount of sugar is changed dramatically?
I decided to look into this issue and cooked 3 biscuits at once. I put in one sugar exactly as much as prescribed in the recipe. In the second, I put 2 times more, and in the third - 2 times less. Before I share the result, let’s tell you how I make a classic buttery sponge cake.
Step-by-step recipe on how to make a classic buttery biscuit
Ingredients per form 18 cm in diameter:
- Eggs 2 pcs
- Sugar 66 g
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Baking powder ¼ teaspoon
- Butter 20 g
- A pinch of salt
I divide the eggs into whites and yolks and put them in separate containers. I add half the sugar, a pinch of salt to the proteins and beat until a fluffy mass is formed, as for a meringue.
I add the remaining sugar to the yolks and beat with a mixer until lightening and increasing in volume. I remove the mixer, we will no longer need it.
Add meringue to the yolks and gently stir with a spatula until smooth. Then sift the flour with baking powder and stir until combined.
Last, add melted butter, vanilla extract and stir with a spatula.
The butter must be melted in advance so that it has time to cool down to room temperature.
I pour the dough into a mold and send it to bake in the oven for ~ 15 minutes at 180 ° C. I check the readiness for a dry skewer.
Let the biscuit cool for 5 minutes in the mold, then take it out of the mold and put it on the wire rack until it cools completely. It's time to show how the biscuit turned out, baked with a normal amount of sugar.
What I got (experiment results)
A normal sponge cake was baked for 17 minutes. The biscuit turned out to be soft and springy. Inside, it is quite dense and moderately loose, outside there is no crust. Air bubbles are almost the same size. Now let's show you how the biscuit turned out, in which I put 2 times less sugar.
This biscuit was baked for 15 minutes. Inside it has a very dense crumb and almost no air bubbles, outside the biscuit is very sticky. The biscuit, although soft, has a rubbery texture. I wonder how the biscuit turned out with double the amount of sugar?
This sponge cake took the longest to bake, 24 minutes. The inside of the biscuit has a very loose crumb with huge air bubbles. The top of the biscuit is crispy. The crumb turned out to be rather dry, although the biscuit is rather soft. It's time to compare which biscuit turned out to be the most magnificent.
As you can see from the photo, the most magnificent biscuit turned out to be with a double portion of sugar. But the biscuit with the lowered sugar content, consider, did not rise at all. The sponge cake with the normal amount of sugar is perfect. It has a moist crumb, no crust, and yet it is soft and airy. It's time to take stock and explain how you can use this knowledge.
Now, if you get a thin and dense sponge cake with a sticky crust, you will know that there is not enough sugar in it. And if the biscuit is dryish and with a crispy crust, then it contains more sugar than necessary.
I hope my experiment was helpful to you. Like it and share with your friends on social networks. Surely, some of them are now asking the question: "What will happen if you put less / more sugar?"
If you are concerned about any question related to the preparation of desserts, ask it in the comments. I will try to answer, and if I do not know the answer, I will conduct an experiment and check it in practice.