What is “natural cane sugar”?

[BakerAunt]

I'm looking at a Martha Stewart recipe for Apple-Cider Doughnut Cake. It calls for "natural cane sugar." I've googled the term, in various ways and am not finding any answers, other than those from the health food industry. What I need to know is what it is, so that I can bake the cake.

I was assuming it is like demerara sugar, or sugar in the raw. Is that accurate?

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[BakerAunt]

I found this site:
https://www.whatsugar.com/post/unrefined-vs-raw-vs-refined-cane-sugar

I'm going to go with the idea that Martha's "natural cane sugar" is the same as sugar in the raw or demerara sugar.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm glad this site does not make the usual claim that unrefined cane sugar is better for you than refined cane sugar. Both are 'added sugars' as far as the new US nutrition label standards are concerned.

If you happen to prefer the taste of demerara sugar or how it works in cooking and baking, fine. I prefer refined sugar for most of those purposes, though I do find I'm using brown sugar more than I used to. But there was a time when I was using Golden Syrup a lot too.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I'll throw turbinado into the mix. It's just spun and dried and much cheaper than demerara in Hartford.

Martha could also mean cane as opposed to beet.

[Mike Nolan]

When it comes to refined sugars, it is very difficult for me to notice any difference between cane and beet sugar these days.

When I was in grad school, one of my professors told an amusing story. His father ran a cannery. He was entrusted to make a batch of canned corn once and used beet sugar instead of cane sugar. The corn came out with a red tint to it.

I don't know if that would still happen, as that happened many years ago, in the 30's. I've had no problems using beet sugar for cooked sugar candies, though all the books say not to.

[BakerAunt]

I think at one point, in a discussion on this site (or was it the old KAF site?), we concluded that Sugar-in-the-Raw is the same as demerara sugar, except for the name and the cheaper price, not to mention easy availability. Unless a recipe specifically calls for it, then I mostly use it to sprinkle on top of breads and muffins. It makes a nice finish, and I like the taste.

I did once use it in a cake and had some issues. Cass suggested at that time I might grind it in a blender if I were to bake the recipe again.

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