How to reduce the sugar in cakes

[scott123]

led by a certain Scott123 (the same Scott123 as our egullet participant?)

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The one and only!

Those are great links on the baking properties of sugar. Thanks.

I'm a huge fan of polydextrose for low glycemic/low carb/diabetic confections, but I'm not sure it's the answer to this issue. Yes, it does provide sugary texture without providing sweetness, but unless the original poster is looking to reduce either calories or carbs, I think it overcomplicates things a bit. Polydextrose has a much larger molecule than sugar, and, because of this, it reacts differently in baking. When converting a recipe, a lot of tweaking/experimentation has to be done in order to make it work. Glucose will provide almost the the exact same properties as sugar, minus the sweetness. Glucose also avoids any of the potential digestive issues associated with polydextrose.

I'm curious, what kind(s) of candy have you been making with polydextrose?

Mottmott, glucose is a component of sugar. Sugar is 50/50 glucose/fructose. Fructose is sweeter than sugar, glucose is less sweet. If you're happy with the texture of your cake, but all you want to do is reduce the sweetness, swap out some of the sugar with glucose. I'd give half a shot.

Most health food stores carry glucose (also called dextrose). This is a popular brand.

[Swisskaese]

I have to state once more that reducing the sugar has not changed the texture of my cakes. Fore example, I have made a sickeningly sweet carrot cake and then made it again with less sugar and had the same textural results.

However, this may not be case for angel food or chiffon cakes which I happen to loathe.

Edited November 22, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[escry]

I'm curious, what kind(s) of candy have you been making with polydextrose?

I've just about prefected a pate de fruit:

950g infused water (eg saffron)

(-150g evaporation)

900g polydextrose

100g fructose

40g pectin (low methoxyl)

I like the fruit notes of fructose, and the fact that its sweetness disipates quickly; a fanfare for the 'savour' flavour to follow.

Note that the above recipe produces a 57 Brix jelly. I made a 75 Brix pate de fruit (90% polydextrose) and used low methoxyl pectin - having been advised that "pectin does not consider polydextrose as sugar", therefore a LM pectin would be appropriate. It did not set! I have yet to try the obvious, ie use a standard HM pectin.

This evening I am working yet again on a polydextrose nougat. (During these experiments I have found a mix of 80% polydextrose, 10% glucose, 10% fructose produces a very good caramelized sugar.)

It may be a bit off topic, but any wise words on polydextrose confection would be most welcome.