Agave as a "doctor"?

[Edward J]

Been doing a lot of thinking with my current caramel recipie, taste wise its pretty darn good.  However it does have almost 30% corn syrup in it.  Obviously the cornsyrup is there to prevent crystallization.  Honey would work, but is very expensive, and besides, the flavor is destroyed with prolonged cooking.

 

Would a straight out substitute for corn syrup to agave work?

 

The recipie is straight out of Grewling:

 

1360 whole milk (homo,@3.5%)

280 whipping cream

680 sugar

570 corn syrup

[Deryn]

I am sorry that I cannot help you with the technicalities/culinary merits of replacing your corn syrup with agave, but, from a health perspective, since agave is much higher in fructose than even high-fructose corn syrup, I hope not too many people eat much of your caramel if you choose to use agave.

[CatPoet]

I use a white sugar syrup / baking syrup and it works too.

 

At Christmas I make  knäck ( a caramel/ toffee treat)  and then I use  ljus sirap, which is sugar ( made from beets) and not fructose.  You can find this at Amazon.com and sometimes IKEA, how ever it is light brown in colour and has bit of caramel taste.  The  white sugar syrup / baking syrup comes from the same company  and is harder to get hold of in USA but if you are lucky to have a store aimed at  Norwegians, Danes and Swedes  then you can find it.

[Edward J]

I am sorry that I cannot help you with the technicalities/culinary merits of replacing your corn syrup with agave, but, from a health perspective, since agave is much higher in fructose than even high-fructose corn syrup, I hope not too many people eat much of your caramel if you choose to use agave.

 

\Mmmmm,.... 

 

 George Orwell once wrote "Four legs good, two legs baaaaad"

 

I won't argue with you, as you make a very valid point.  However I'm trying to break in to Whole foods and Capers now, and corn syrup, even a low fructose de 42 is baaad--no questions or verifications.  If they want agave, I gots to give it 'em. 

 

What cracks me up is  a lot of people's requests for "sugar free chocolate", of which the mainstream stuff is sweetened with malitol.  (I won't use it, but who cares?) Any sugar ending in "-ol" is a mild laxative.......

 

 

Maybe I can calculate the weight of the corn syrup as sugar, and sub 10% of the whole sugar amount with molasses.....   

[pastrygirl]

I have not used agave (and don't personally believe the hype), but so far all of the liquid sugars I have used in caramels have worked as doctors - honey, maple syrup, steen's cane syrup, lyle's golden syrup, and glucose.  I really love the Lyle's in caramels, as it has a caramel-y flavor to begin with.  I do use more maple syrup than the thicker ones, figuring it reduces a bit.  I make caramels by caramelizing the sugar separately for flavor then adding everything else and cooking to temp. I'm not sure whether method makes any difference when it comes to formula changes.

 

Isn't agave on the expensive side?  Or are you just trying to please WF?

Edited April 22, 2015 by pastrygirl (log)

[CatPoet]

Lyles golden syrup taste more caramel then  ljus sirap  but it is the same.  I done  knäck with that too and it comes even more caramel  in flavour then I am used to.

[pastrygirl]

Lyles golden syrup taste more caramel then  ljus sirap  but it is the same.  I done  knäck with that too and it comes even more caramel  in flavour then I am used to.

 CatPoet, I was wondering what the heck ljus sirap was, but I happened to see some at the import store today - I went to stock up on Lyle's and there were bottles of ljus sirap and darker mork sirap!   So they are beet sugar syrups?  Is there a special/unique flavor or mostly just sweet?  Are they usually used in candies and baking, or would you use them on pancakes like we use maple syrup?

[dcarch]

Inverted sugar?

 

dcarch

[Edward J]

Inverted sugar?

 

dcarch

That's a good suggestion.  I'll have to go back to WF's site to see if inverted sugar is "allowable".

 

Of course, honey is an acceptable substitute for inverted sugar, but price was it's almost as expensive, if I buy inverted sugar commercially

 

Wybauw has a recipie for inverted sugar, calling for sugar, water, tartaric acid, and baking soda.  If inverted sugar is not allowable in WF's eyes, I could just list those ingredients and hope to b.s my way through....... 

[andiesenji]

A friend who owns a bakery/cafe has been making caramel topping/filling for pastries/cookies and some candies without any corn syrup at all, because many of his customers have requested corn-free products.  Not particularly about the high-fructose syrup but from GMO corn products in general.

 

He makes his own boiled cider syrup - he read an article in one of the "trades" about the use of it and while it takes time to reduce the cider to syrup, he knows exactly what is in it as he buys the cider from a producer in Kern county (CA).

 

Last year King Arthur flour had two or three recipes for caramel made with boiled cider.  Here is one.

 

I've made my own boiled cider for use in baking - I haven't made the caramels as that would be a little too much sweet for me.

I haven't used corn syrup for years.

 

Frankly, as a diabetic (type 2) I'm not so much worried by the fructose in this home made product as I am about all the chemicals in commercial products.  If I can't pronounce it, I won't consume it.

Agave syrup has been touted as more "healthy" than other sweeteners but it is still basically sugar, as it honey, maple syrup & etc., but they are all safe in moderation for people with problems.

 

I grew up on a farm in western Kentucky where tons of sorghum cane was raised and processed into molasses and there is a long-time tradition in that area of caramels made with sorghum - the flavor is different but some people prefer it because it has a deep, almost smoky flavor that is similar to that of the black treacle or "black ribbon cane syrup" made from sugar cane. 

[Kerry Beal]

If you use golden syrup - it's still glucose and fructose - but perhaps you don't need to label it that way?

[gap]

Maybe different in US, but in Australia, glucose syrup can also be made from wheat. Could you just use wheat-derived glucose instead of corn syrup?

[Kerry Beal]

Or what if you just call it glucose instead of corn syrup?