Spring cupcake recipe and picture by Ashe-Villian
One of the greatest things about cupcakes is sugar. When you are getting ready to eat a cupcake, you are prepared to pop something delicious and sweet into your mouth. And the frosting, hopefully, will be even sweeter. In other words, eating a cupcake is not the time to skip on the sweetener. Most people feel there is nothing wrong with a little good old-fashioned sugar every now and then.
However, many people find that they must avoid sugar altogether. There are a variety of reasons that this occurs. These reasons range from worrying about their teeth, worrying about the addictive qualities of sugar and trying to improve their health regime to lose weight or fight medical problems like diabetes. Regardless of the reason, a sugar free cupcake may sound ridiculous to you at first.
The good news is that crafty chefs have come up with some really easy ways to make sugar free cupcakes that actually taste really good. I know this may come as a surprise because at first glance the idea of a sugar free cupcake might make most people think of eating some soft cardboard. Yet, the good news is that this is definitely not the case.
So how do you go about substituting sugar in sugar free cupcakes? As it turns out, agave nectar (often called agave syrup) works perfectly as a substitute for sugar. If you have never heard of agave, it is a sweetener, which is made in Mexico from a few different species of cactus. Agave’s consistency is similar to honey, but less sticky and thick. As a result, it is very easy to add into recipes that are calling for sugar.
Agave does not lose its sweetness during the baking process when you make sugar free cupcakes. Many bakeries that sell sugar free cupcakes choose agave nectar as a main ingredient. For the home chef, agave is easy to find in most stores that sell organic or natural products. One popular brand of agave nectar is called Madhava Organic. When replacing sugar with agave in your sugar free cupcakes, use 2/3 a cup of agave for 1 cup of sugar. If you are substituting agave nectar for granulated sugar for your frosting, use 2/3 of a cup of agave and then reduce other liquids in the cupcake recipe by 1/3-1/4 of a cup.
Another way to make a sugar free cupcake is by using Splenda. Splenda is made from sucralose, which is derived from sugar in a chemical process. It is easy to buy in the grocery store and simple to substitute for sugar in a sugar free cupcake recipe. To replace Splenda into frosting, just use about 25% of the sugar that you would normally use in your frosting. There is a special Splenda option for confections called Splenda granulated.
For the batter of the sugar free cupcakes, you can use slightly less Spenda than you would have used of sugar. Also you want to check your sugar free cupcakes earlier and remove them from the oven slightly sooner. The addition of Splenda in a recipe can cause baked goods to cook faster.
These are some great options for creating sugar free cupcakes. Bakers are coming up with new ideas all the time for making sweet and delicious cupcakes that don’t have sugar in them. This whole idea of sugar free cupcakes would have seemed crazy 20 or 30 years ago, but today they are a reality.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I have my doubts that it would taste the same, but it’s nice to know there is another option from sugar.
.-= Cupcake Activist´s last blog ..Fondant "I Heart U" Pops =-.