Baking (rec.food.baking) For bakers, would-be bakers, and fans and consumers of breads, pastries, cakes, pies, cookies, crackers, bagels, and other items commonly found in a bakery. Includes all methods of preparation, both conventional and not.

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lakota
 
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Default Baking & Stevia

Has anyone tried Stevia in baking? Does it lack that caramelized flavor
of sugar? I see recipes online, but does anyone has muffin, cake, or
cookie recipes that have been tried and work well with Stevia.

Thanx
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chembake
 
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Default Baking & Stevia

>Has anyone tried Stevia in baking? Does it lack that caramelized flavor
>of sugar? I see recipes online, but does anyone has muffin, cake, or
>cookie recipes that have been tried and work well with Stevia


It may not be different if compared to sucralose..and
you need a bulking agent to be used with it....to simulate one of the
functional effect of sugar that is also absent in intense non caloric
sweeteners .

>.Does it lack that caramelized flavor
>of sugar?


Yes,,,,,

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lakota
 
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Default Baking & Stevia

chembake wrote:
>>Has anyone tried Stevia in baking? Does it lack that caramelized flavor
>>of sugar? I see recipes online, but does anyone has muffin, cake, or
>>cookie recipes that have been tried and work well with Stevia

>
>
> It may not be different if compared to sucralose..and
> you need a bulking agent to be used with it....to simulate one of the
> functional effect of sugar that is also absent in intense non caloric
> sweeteners .


What types of builking agents are available? What are the tradeoffs?
>
>
>>.Does it lack that caramelized flavor
>>of sugar?

>
>
> Yes,,,,,
>

Is there anyway to compensate for this? Like some molasses or caramel
flavoring?
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chembake
 
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Default Baking & Stevia


>What types of builking agents are available? What are the tradeoffs?


A common bulking agent is maltodextrin

>>.Does it lack that caramelized flavor
>>of sugar?



> Yes,,,,,




>Is there anyway to compensate for this? Like some molasses or caramel
>flavoring?


If you add molasses...you are supplying already a small part of
sucrose so its not completely sugar free anymore.
Caramel flavoring is possible but the flavor profile is not identical
as the naturally made caramel flavor that results from the Maillards
Reaction of the reducing sugars and amino acids during baking

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lakota
 
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Default Baking & Stevia

Thanx ChemBake! I would appreciate any help to get rid of the "grassy"
flavor of Stevia. Please let me know if there is anything to hide it, it
doesn't have to be completely sugar free.

chembake wrote:
>>What types of builking agents are available? What are the tradeoffs?

>
>
> A common bulking agent is maltodextrin
>
>
>>>.Does it lack that caramelized flavor
>>>of sugar?

>
>
>
>>Yes,,,,,

>
>
>
>
>>Is there anyway to compensate for this? Like some molasses or caramel
>>flavoring?

>
>
> If you add molasses...you are supplying already a small part of
> sucrose so its not completely sugar free anymore.
> Caramel flavoring is possible but the flavor profile is not identical
> as the naturally made caramel flavor that results from the Maillards
> Reaction of the reducing sugars and amino acids during baking
>



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chembake
 
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Default Baking & Stevia

The simplest way is to use stronger flavoring materials to counteract
the off flavor.

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Maltodextrin's best known role is for bulking sucralose in splenda so that it measures one for one with sugar. As far as utilizing it as a bulking agent to simulate the functional effects of sugar in baking, I wouldn't recommend it. First of all, the only maltodextrin I've seen for sale has been the high glycemic stuff- higher glycemic index than sugar. Carbwise, caloriewise, glycemically, you'd be better off just using sugar. Secondly, there are digestion resistant maltodextrins out there, but besides not being available to the general public, the odds that they perform anything like sugar in baking are close to nill. From the research I've done, these resistant maltodextrins act more like starch than they do sugar. For the baking properties of sugar (caramelization, glassing, chewiness/gooeyness) I'd recommend using something else.

Lakota, from what I'm reading, you appear to have two goals:

A. Add the taste of caramelized sugar to your baked goods without adding much sugar.
B. Find ways to improve the taste of stevia.

One of the most popular workarounds for recreating caramel/brown sugar flavoring is to add a tiny amount of blackstrap molasses to the recipe. Blackstrap is the darkest, strongest form of molasses you can buy. With just a miniscule amount you can get a lot of flavor. You then supplement this burnt sugar flavoring with alternative sweeteners. For every cup of sweetening equivalent I add to a recipe, I add only about 1/4 to 1/2 t. blackstrap molasses.

Besides the flavor achieved from molasses, there are two sugar free ingredients that not only caramelize but provide the texture of sugar in baked goods. These are polydextrose and inulin. Polydextrose is sugar that's been processed in such a way so that it acts like fiber in the body. Both contain very little sweetness but texturally, they are very close to the real deal.

Lastly, you mentioned caramel flavoring. I've been looking for a good one and, so far, nothing has impressed me all that much. I'm not sure a good one exists. Shoud I find one I like I think I'll use it in conjunction with the blackstrap and the polydextrose.


Now, as far as making stevia palatable goes, here are few tips:

1. Buy a good brand of stevia. Steviaplus appears to a favorite. The 'Now' brand is also good. One of the reasons why these brands are so well received is the way in which the Stevia is extracted. White stevia extract is purer/less bitter than the leaf based tinctures.

2. Combine the stevia with something else- at least one, ideally two other sweeteners. When you combine certain sweeteners, a phenomenon called 'synergy' occurs. With synergy, the sum is greater than the parts. Here's an example. If you take a cup's sweetening equivalent of stevia and combine it with a cup's equivalent of splenda, how much sweetening do you have? Two cups? Nope. Because two sweeteners are involved, the end result is closer to two and half cups sweetening equivalent. This synergistic boost you get from combining sweeteners allows you to use less of each. By using less, any aftertase is mitigated. It's a win win situation. By using two sweeteners, you spend less money and the quality of sweetness improves dramatically. What to add? Well, the best tasting alternative sweetener on the market today is splenda. Splenda has a great synergy with stevia. If splenda doesn't float your boat, then I'd recommend one of the sugar alcohols, preferably erythritol. Sugar alcohols have the distinct advantage of a very long history of safe use. Their one disadvantage is that they can be high GI and they can laxate you. The exception to this would be erythritol. Erythritol is expensive and hard to find, but it's extremely low calorie/low carb and works beautifully as a component of a sweetening mix. Erythritol and stevia have an excellent synergy. The last sweetener I'd recommend would be Ace K, which goes under the brand Sweet One. Ace K is another high intensity sweetener that has phenomenal synergy with splenda and stevia.

Regardless of what sweetener you choose, the bottom line is that stevia, even the best brand, doesn't work by itself. In order to make it more palatable, you have to combine it with something else.

If you're dead set on using stevia by itself, I could give you a few pointers, but ultimately it's a losing battle. In theory, flavors like chocolate or coffee could mask stevia's bitterness, but because of their own inherent bitterness, they require substantial amounts of sweetening. The more stevia you use to compensate, the more aftertaste you get. The best environment that I've found for masking the taste of stevia is tea. The tannins in tea are very similar to the bitter compounds in stevia. There aren't a heck of a lot of tea flavored desserts, though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lakota
Thanx ChemBake! I would appreciate any help to get rid of the "grassy"
flavor of Stevia. Please let me know if there is anything to hide it, it
doesn't have to be completely sugar free.

chembake wrote:
What types of builking agents are available? What are the tradeoffs?



A common bulking agent is maltodextrin


.Does it lack that caramelized flavor
of sugar?




Yes,,,,,





Is there anyway to compensate for this? Like some molasses or caramel
flavoring?



If you add molasses...you are supplying already a small part of
sucrose so its not completely sugar free anymore.
Caramel flavoring is possible but the flavor profile is not identical
as the naturally made caramel flavor that results from the Maillards
Reaction of the reducing sugars and amino acids during baking
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