How can I substitute or make soft brown sugar?

Question

I have just moved to Germany. I haven't yet been able to find brown sugar of the type we have in Australia ie: soft, small grained, slightly sticky in that it holds its shape well when you dig a spoonful out. The only brown sugars I have seen are granular. You can also buy molasses.

Crushing the granular sugar is both labour-intensive and not that successful.

Any ideas on the ratios of different sugar products required to produce a 'soft brown sugar'?

As context, I tend to use soft brown sugars in things like fruit crumble toppings, as a base for a very dark caramel sauce, and also as a substitute for palm sugar when (as in Germany) it's difficult to get hold of. The granular sugars don't behave in quite the same way when melting/added to hot sauces.

Answer 1

Put the regular (refined white) sugar and molasses (about 2 tablespoons per cup of sugar) in a food processor and give it a spin. Use more or less molasses as needed to get the color and consistency that you want.

Answer 2

This doesn't directly answer your question, but a good substitution for brown sugar that is generally easy to find internationally is Jaggery. I find it substitutes very well. You should be able to find it at any Indian grocery.

Answer 3

I've only done this once, and it worked out pretty well, but I used a combination of golden syrup and regular granulated brown sugar as a substitute. I got the idea from a friend who used molasses.

The ratio I used was around 1 tablespoon per cup of granular sugar.

The flavour was a little different but completely acceptable and may be better with molasses.