Standard white granulated sugar? Please. That’s the friend who shows up to a party with a store-bought veggie tray and no dip. It works, sure, but it’s utterly forgettable and melts into a sticky, burnt mess if you sneeze.
White sugar melts too fast and caramelizes unevenly. You get that weird, bitter taste of burnt cotton candy, and the crunch is as thin as a politician’s promise. You need structure. You need drama.
Enter Demerara: The Chunky Hero
Demerara sugar looks like tiny, golden-brown pebbles you might find on a beach in a tropical vacation you can’t afford. But for five bucks a bag, you can afford this little luxury. Its large crystals are the bodyguards of the caramel world.
Because they’re big and coarse, they take heat like a champ. Instead of turning into a puddle of regret, they hold their shape, then slowly melt into a thick, glassy crust. The crunch? It’s so loud it makes your neighbor’s cat twitch.
I once used raw sugar from a coffee shop packet out of desperation. My brulee came out looking like an asphalt parking lot. My husband asked if I was making a “road repair dessert.” Never again.
