The sugar is extracted, refined and crystallised into a variety of white and brown forms - commonly used to sweeten hot drinks or used in domestic cooking or in food processing. The residue from sugar production is molasses, a strongly flavoured, almost black syrup, which can be clarified to form treacle. Golden syrup is partially inverted syrup made from intermediate sugar liquours from the refining process. Honey is produced by bees from nectar and has a distinctive flavour which depends on the flowers which the bees visit. The honey is extracted from wax honey-combs by spinning or by heat extraction.
Honey contains many sugars, but mainly glucose and fructose.
Much brown sugar starts off as refined white sugar, which then is coated with molasses to make it brown. Brown sugars, syrups, honey and treacle provide sweetness and flavour. Sugars can also contribute to the texture and mouthfeel of products, eg ice cream. Caster sugar is most suitable for this due to its fine crystal structure and as it inhibits gluten development in flour, helping the bakery item achieve a light texture. The inclusion of sugar in bakery products helps them keep their moisture, as sugar has water attracting properties, ie it improves shelf-life and maintains texture and mouthfeel.