My approach to managing
sugar sensitivity is to limit the sweet stuff rather than write it off completely. Occasionally I like to have dessert. By occasionally, I mean frequently.
I’ve found that in baking recipes, you can usually halve the amount of sugar, at least coming from the perspective
of someone who has mostly stripped sweets from their diet. I’ve done this in about 10 baking recipes so far and haven’t been disappointed once. Often I switch from white sugar to brown, because I love the hint of molasses, but it depends on the recipe.
Most recently, I halved the sugar in this recipe, Pear Cake with Pine Nuts. I also added a teaspoon or two of spices (cinnamon and cardamom) to the pear mixture because I could see there wasn’t much “kick” in the recipe. I also made it with the new “white” whole wheat flour, which I’m suspicious of but decided to buy anyway based on the fiber/protein content — completely comparable to whole wheat. (Coming soon: a post on the mad science of white whole wheat flour.)
Results were delicious.
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8 responses so far ↓
1 Nancy // Oct 30, 2007 at 3:02 pm
OOh Sara, that sounds delicious! Did you use the brown sugar for this? Do you ever use baking splenda? I find that you can use 1/2 of what a recipe calls for with baking splenda opposed to sugar. Me, always trying to cut WW points anyway I can! Thanks for sharing!
2 Sara // Oct 30, 2007 at 3:06 pm
I do use Splenda sometimes, with good results although sometimes I get an aftertaste I don’t love. Because of that, and because some people get stressed about fake sweeteners, I usually use natural sugar for parties. (This cake was for a Russian tea: talk about people who like their sweets!)
Re brown sugar: I used white for this recipe to keep it “pretty” (so that the cake would be white, not brown). But purely from a taste perspective, I bet brown’s even better.
3 Nancy // Oct 30, 2007 at 3:20 pm
OOH your Russian tea sounds like a blast!!
Yes, I know what you mean about the fake sweeteners. I agree about the after taste as well - I think cup for cup makes it taste funky, that is why I always use 1/2 of what it calls for with the splenda.
I am def going to try this pear cake, I might use almonds or walnuts in place of the pine nuts.
4 Melissa H. // Oct 30, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Sara, this looks beautiful!! And delicious. I bet Dh would dig it. Maybe I will make it for our Turkey Day potluck here at work!!!
5 Maffy // Oct 30, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I’m very sugar-sensitive, too, but have a sweet tooth, so I struggle. I use whey low now instead of splenda, though - better results and a good brown sugar substitute as well - because I don’t like the aftertaste of the asparatme, either. Still, it has some calories, so cutting the sugar requirements in half would still be a great thing, and it sounds like it worked here! I like the way you added the spices for zing. This is one I will have to try.
6 Sara // Oct 30, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Interesting - I don’t know whey low. I’ll definitely have to look it up. Where do you get it? Is it milk-sugar based or…?
7 JavaChick // Oct 30, 2007 at 4:52 pm
I have had good results cutting back to 3/4 the amount of sugar in a recipe and increasing the vanilla by a little bit. I also like to use the “white whole-wheat flour”, it seems to have a slightly nutty flavour that I enjoy.
Maybe next time I will try cutting back to half the sugar!
8 Sara // Oct 30, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Increasing the vanilla, good tip JavaChick. Nice site, too.
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