Too Sweet or Not Too Sweet

Nature has provided us with several different kinds of natural sweeteners that provide great alternatives to baking with processed white sugar.  Here are some examples:

Barley Malt Syrup:  Barley Malt Syrup is made from sprouted barley.  It is half as sweet as white sugar and excellent in spice cakes, gingerbread and in homemade baked beans.  Substitute every 1 cup of sugar called for in the recipe with 1 1/3 cups barley malt and reduce liquid bu 1/4 cup.

Evaporated Whole Cane Juice:  This is also known as rapadura or muscovado.  It is manufactured by the removal of the water content of sugar cane but with the retention of the minerals and molasses.  Use in virtually anything calling for refined sugar.  Replace refined sugars with equivalent amounts of rapadura.

Honey:  Is extracted from flower nectar by bees and is 20% to 60% sweeter than white sugar so use less!  Honey can be used in all baked goods.  Use 2.3 as much honey as white sugar called for in the recipe.  Reduce liquid by 1/4 cup, but if there is no liquid to reduce, add 3-4 tablespoons of flour for each 1/2 cup of honey used.  Reduce oven temperature 25 degrees C and adjust baking time.

Maple Syrup:  Comes from the sap of maple trees and is high in potassium and calcium.  Use in all baked goods - it is wonderful in cakes and pies.  Substitute every 1 cup of white sugar with 2/3 to 3/4 cup of maple syrup and reduce liquid in recipe by 3 tablespoons.

Stevia:  This is a perennial shrub of the aster family and is hundred of times sweeter than table sugar but with zero calories.  Use on teaspoon in place of one cup of sugar.  To make your own liquid solution, dissolve 1 tsp, stevia powder in 3 tablespoons pure water, pour concentrate into a small bottle with a dropper and store in fridge.  Approximately 1 tsp, of concentrate equals 1 cup of sugar.

Agave Nectar:  A natural liquid sweetener that is less viscous than honey.  It comes in three grades: light, medium and amber.  Light agave is sweet but has a neutral flavour, making it great for recipes where the stronger flavour of maple syrup or honey may interfere.  The flavour of agave becomes more intense and earthy with the darker grades.  Agave is about 1 1/2 times sweeter than refined sugar and is low on the glycemic index.

by Nandana Lynn, Huckleberry Farms Greenlane