Wednesday 8 June 2011

Sugary jammy jammy jam

I like sugar. Ahh that's better :) I know sometimes it's like saying you like cocaine but I do truly like it, I love the taste it gives cakes and iced pastries and cordial and a discreeet pinch magically adds a little something to a tomato based sauce.

I like savoury (could never live without my cheese) but I also like sweet, not too sweet but I confess I most definately have a 'sweet tooth' and a correspondingly sized backside to go with it.

I've been reading up on sugar free over the last few months but I've tried sugar free cakes, most definately not the same, and now agave has been shoved onto the red list of stuff not to buy I'm floundering over what to use as a substitute? I used some Fruisana (low GI) the other day and it seems it was OK in the jam (with sugar though as it was a last minute thing and didn't have enough).
What of my elderflower cordial? Sugar as well as the sweetness it provides preserves it for me to use deep in the cold days of winter when I need a little help remembering summer will come round again eventually!

So I guess what I am asking is what substitutes work to give the closest likeness to sugar in preserving and sweetness (oh and no artificial sweetners either) OR is it better to stick with sugar but have less of it and less frequently? A matter of willpower?

3 comments:

Dawn said...

I've used honey this year in my elderflower cordial and it is delicious, might be an alternative to processed sugar.
I don't make many jams as we don't use them much, but for cordials and other preserves I do - I've varied what sugars I use and preferred the raw cane sugar - not processed.
Not sure what other alternatives there are, don't like the idea of using anything artificial so never tried them.

Liz said...

What ratio of honey to water did you use? :)

Dawn said...

Sorry, didn't see your question until today - you use 75% of the sugar weight in honey, so if it's 100g sugar to whatever the volume of water on recipes, use 75g honey. It is absolutely delicious too, a different taste with the honey tones but sooooo nice, we will do honey again.