• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Renaissance Mom

Renaissance Mom

Cooking, baking and blogging with a vengeance since 2020

  • Cook’s Notes
  • Baker’s Notes
  • Bar Notes
  • Bread
  • Breakfast / Snack
  • Lunch / Dinner
    • Chicken Recipes
    • Meat Recipes
    • Seafood Recipes
  • Side Dishes
  • Sweets
  • Happy Hours
  • Cook’s Notes
  • Baker’s Notes
  • Bar Notes
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Visit CASA Veneracion
  • Visit Devour Asia
  • Bread
  • Breakfast / Snack
  • Lunch / Dinner
    • Chicken
    • Meat
    • Seafood
  • On the Side
  • Sweets
  • Happy Hours
You are here: Home / Baker’s Notes / Loosely Packed and Firmly Packed Brown Sugar: Illustrated

Loosely Packed and Firmly Packed Brown Sugar: Illustrated

You come across a recipe for a baked goodie, you drool over the photos, you check the recipes and you realize you have every ingredient in your pantry. But how you you measure brown sugar when the measurement is often qualified with descriptions like “loosely packed”, “lightly packed” or “firmly packed” brown sugar. What does that mean?

Loosely packed browned sugar

Loosely packed means you fill the measuring cup with sugar then use a spatula to remove the mound.

Lightly packed means you press the sugar lightly into the measuring cup and add more, press lightly down again, until the amount of sugar reaches the brim.

Firmly packed brown sugar

Firmly packed means you press the sugar more firmly, packing it in the measuring cup more tightly, adding more and repeating the process until you have a very compact amount of sugar.

To test whether your sugar has been loosely, lightly or firmly packed, fill a measuring cup with sugar then invert the measuring cup onto a plate or bowl. If the sugar does not retain the shape of the measuring cup, it is loosely packed. If the sugar partially retains the shape of the measuring cup (i.e., some come loose), it is lightly packed. If the sugar comes out as a solid mass (i.e., very little comes loose), it is firmly packed.

Does any of it matter? Yes, because the amount of sugar will vary and, ergo, the sweetness, color and texture of the baked product is affected. So, it does pay to use the correct measurement.

Updated from a post originally published in February 28, 2011

More Baking Notes
Home baked white bread

Stages in Making Bread

Baking pab bottom coated with caramelized sugar

How to Caramelize Sugar

Egg whites: stiff peak stage

Beating Egg Whites: Frothy to Stiff Peaks, Illustrated

Drizzling glaze over cupcake

How to Make Uniform-sized Cupcakes and Muffins

Non-stick baking pan

Lower the Heat When Baking with Dark-colored Pans

Whipped cream abd berries on cake

The Difference Between Whipped Cream and Whipping Cream, and How to Whip Whipping Cream

  • About Renaissance.Mom
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Inspiration

“Laughter is brightest where food is best.“

Irish proverb

Happy Hours

Muddled cocktail drink with Limoncello
A glass of piña colada
Coconut and Melon Cocktail
Cups of mo-tea-to and a bottle of Smirnoff
Kiwi Martini
Lime Juice Mimosa

Everything © Connie & Alex Veneracion. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.