eryone forgot about this segment. We've discussed everything that goes into the flour making process previously, but what makes the twinkie flour exactly what is needed for that sickeningly sweet, soft, powdery twinkie is...you got it, sugar! Not those corn sweeteners that we'll discuss later, but pure sugar from live plants. The sugar isn't used just for sweetness, but also to make the cake have the consistency we want and to act as one of the most powerful preservatives in the cake allowing it to last, well, forever as far as anyone knows. Most people think of the sugar as coming from the sugar cane plant grown in tropical climates- and much of it does. Just as much comes from the northern climates such as North Dakota and Minnesota where the sugar beet is harvested. Regardless of the plant, the processing is the same.
Take your plants(sugar cane or sugar beet) and wash them down, crush them up, and let them sit in hot water to bring out the sweetness. Add a little lime to the mix to combine with impurities and remove them, filter the juice to get rid of the lime mix substances and now you're left with a sweet syrup. The juicy syrup goes through a series of vacuum pans which keep it at a temperature to boil but not burn or caramelize. Once this is done you can centrifuge out the sugar crystals that we all know and love (but still containing molasses, so a bit darker than we're used to). Repeat the process almost identically to remove the molasses, and BLAMMO- sugar!
It's nice to see one ingredient that really hasn't been so chemically altered as to look like a cyborg of the original constituents.
No comments:
Post a Comment