Splenda to make Indian desserts

[Monica Bhide]

I have been getting notes from people, atleast once a week, letting me know how they have been using Indian dessert recipes, mine and others' using splenda

have you used it?

what do you think?

[easyguru]

All the time in all sweets we use splenda. It takes some time to figure out how much to add for a desired sweetness. The only problem is when you need to produce the sticky syrups for some of the sweets, splenda does not give you the same feel.

Recently I also saw a brown colored sugar substitute in the grocery store.

[BBhasin]

No. But my wife does.In my book it how can it be sweet without sugar. I simply have a mental block and will not use it. Splenda however produces very good results for my wife.

I also agree with easy guru about figuring it out.

[scott123]

I'm not entirely impressed with the taste of splenda by itself. And I'm especially displeased with it when I add it to unsweetened chocolate. I find splenda tastes a lot better when used in conjunction with another sweetener like a sugar alcohol or acesulfame k (or both). Combining also produces a synergistic effect, requiring substantially less of both sweeteners to create the desired effect.

Splenda doesn't affect freezing temperatures, so it won't create as soft a kulfi as sugar will. I'm planning on making a kulfi with a sugar alcohol (sorbitol perhaps) and splenda.

[mongo_jones]

what is this splenda of which you speak? jesus, sometimes you people speak all these foreign languages and don't bother translating for the rest of us...

[easyguru]

what is this splenda of which you speak? jesus, sometimes you people speak all these foreign languages and don't bother translating for the rest of us...

Splenda is an artificial sweetner, which has gained lot of populariy in USA.

http://www.splenda.com/index.jhtml

[Milagai]

Monica (or anyone):

have you tried making anything with Stevia?

What's your opinion? I'e never tried it but am clueless

and curious.

Milagai

[mags]

FWIW, Stevia has a licorice-taste that -- unless you like licorice a lot (which I don't) -- can be very unpleasant. I don't like straight Splenda (according to the manufacturer, something like 5% of the population perceives a "flat" or "metallic" taste -- that would be me), but I find it works ok mixed with sugar-alcohol (which will also help in caramelization, since Splenda on its doesn't caramelize. As always, I beat the drum for Whey Low, which is by FAR my preferred articifical sweetener, in that it tastes and (largely) functions exactly like sugar, including caramelization and all the syruppy steps leading up to it. Brown Sugar Twin, which you may have seen in grocery stores, is vile, IMO, and particularly unpleasant when heated, as it's not heat-stable, and its sweetening properties, such as they are, will break down. If you want brown sugar, a much better bet would be either A) Whey Low Gold, B) Nature Sweet Gold (this is granulated maltitol -- a sugar alcohol -- treated to taste like brown sugar), or whatever white-sugar replacement you're happy with, combined with a small amount of blackstrap molasses.

Nature Sweet is made by Steel's, and is available online (and perhaps at some grocery stores -- I've heard rumors of WalMart carrying it). Whey Low, to the best of my knowledge, is available only online, from the manufacturer, at WheyLow.com. Nope, I have no financial connection to either of these companies. But I have done a fair amount of journalistic poking around in the world of artificial sweeteners.

[scott123]

FWIW, Stevia has a licorice-taste that -- unless you like licorice a lot (which I don't) -- can be very unpleasant.  I don't like straight Splenda (according to the manufacturer, something like 5% of the population perceives a "flat" or "metallic" taste -- that would be me), but I find it works ok mixed with sugar-alcohol (which will also help in caramelization, since Splenda on its doesn't caramelize.  As always, I beat the drum for Whey Low, which is by FAR my preferred articifical sweetener, in that it tastes and (largely) functions exactly like sugar, including caramelization and all the syruppy steps leading up to it.  Brown Sugar Twin, which you may have seen in grocery stores, is vile, IMO, and particularly unpleasant when heated, as it's not heat-stable, and its sweetening properties, such as they are, will break down.  If you want brown sugar, a much better bet would be either A) Whey Low Gold, B) Nature Sweet Gold (this is granulated maltitol -- a sugar alcohol -- treated to taste like brown sugar), or whatever white-sugar replacement you're happy with, combined with a small amount of blackstrap molasses.

Nature Sweet is made by Steel's, and is available online (and perhaps at some grocery stores -- I've heard rumors of WalMart carrying it).  Whey Low, to the best of my knowledge, is available only online, from the manufacturer, at WheyLow.com.  Nope, I have no financial connection to either of these companies.  But I have done a fair amount of journalistic poking around in the world of artificial sweeteners.

I too dislike the taste of licorice and was thoroughly revolted by the Stevia I've tasted. I have heard reports, though, of Stevia sweeteners that don't have this taste.

I just took a look at WheyLow.com. If one is a diabetic monitoring blood sugar impact, this may be a suitable product. But from a ketogenic perspective, I'm more than a little skeptical. Fructose, sucrose, and lactose?

And it should also be noted that sugar alcohols like maltitol are known to have certain adverse effects for part of the population such as digestive distress, blood sugar elevation, caloric impact, and stalled ketosis.

[mags]

I just took a look at WheyLow.com. If one is a diabetic monitoring blood sugar impact, this may be a suitable product. But from a ketogenic perspective, I'm more than a little skeptical. Fructose, sucrose, and lactose?

And it should also be noted that sugar alcohols like maltitol are known to have certain adverse effects for part of the population such as digestive distress, blood sugar elevation, caloric impact, and stalled ketosis.

I certainly understand your skepticism about Whey Low. All I can tell you is that when I use it, it does not appear to affect my being in ketosis. I don't often make sweets for myself, though when I do, I'm apt to use a mix of Whey Low with either liquid Splenda -- very hard to get, I know -- or Erythritol, to minimize any potential problems and to cut the overall carb-count. However, when I'm making desserts that I plan to share with other people, I use straight Whey Low, and have found that it is completely, and I mean COMPLETELY indistiguishable from sugar. Again, since I really don't understand the science that's posted on the Whey Low site, all I have is my own experience -- and those of others I've spoken with online -- to go by, but for me, the claims seem to bear out.

I'm hardly a big fan of sugar alcohols, for just the reasons you cite. And in general, from a dietary perspective, I think that cutting down on sweets, WHATEVER they're sweetened with, is probably the best idea. Because I don't eat a lot of sweets, I feel comfortable using Whey Low (and to some extent, sugar alcohols) in the sweets I do make. People who want to make treats or desserts a daily thing may wish to make different accommodations. For me, very simply, a dessert made with Splenda (or, God help me, Equal or Brown Sugar Twin or Sweet 'n Low) isn't worth eating.