Eliminating bitterness

[Tri2Cook]

I'm doing some recipe experimenting for a friend who loves chocolate and other desserts but can't have refined sugar (an allergy related thing, not diabetic, I thought she couldn't eat chocolate at all but apparently unsweetened chocolate and cocoa are ok). I made some ice cream following this recipe but replacing the agave with organic honey (for the simple reason that I know she can have the honey and I'm not sure about the agave). I wanted to use the recipe as a starting point just to get the idea of not using refined sugar where I would normally use it in my head (and on my tongue) and then develop my own ideas. The ice cream does taste good initially but leaves a residual bitterness kind of like after taking an aspirin and a little dissolves before it goes down. Any ideas on combating that bitter aftertaste? As I mentioned in the topic, it's not related to sweetness. It's plenty sweet, maybe even leaning towards too sweet.

[merstar]

Have you tasted the honey alone? Some honeys can have a bitter aftertaste.

[Tri2Cook]

I didn't notice any residual bitterness from tasting the honey alone but maybe something about combining it with the other ingredients causes the problem. I'm thinking I'll make a batch using the exact same ingredients and recipe but using the agave called for in the original recipe and seeing if that confirms or eliminates the honey as the culprit.

[naes]

From Rose Levy Beranbaum's article on Sugar -

Agave Syrup: Containing 23 to 25 percent water is a golden or a neutral syrup, produced from organically grown blue agave cactus. The golden variety has a slight taste of mescal. Because it is fructose, it’s sweetening power is higher than sucrose when not heated above 120°F at which point it also begins to color. Unlike fructose sweeteners that are produced chemically, the fructose is separated by an enzymatic process and then evaporated to the desired consistency. It is used to make beverages such as tequila and in soft drinks, and is noted as being more tolerable for some diabetics.

Since agave nectar is fructose it should be fine for your friend with a sucrose allergy.