cooking with splenda

[Carri]

Hi all,
I tried making a Merengue -sp? nest (you know egg whites) for a pavlova using stevia. Unfortunately it didn't turn out very good. I think it needed the action of sugar. The consistency/texture was not right and didn't taste good. Soooooo even though I am compromising my healthy standards by using an artificial sweetener I don't want extra carbs more! I want to try using splenda to make them instead. Does anyone know if splenda will work when making merange? This isn't the soft kind that I'm talking about that we find on pies but the harder crunchy yet soft centered ones that we have out here in the UK. (Mitra you might know the answer to this one!) Will it turn out the same as using sugar? A good merengue is very important and I don't want to compromise on them or my low carb dessert won't be worth the effort. I bought some organic strawberries and they have so much more flavor! So I am making a strawberry and whipped cream pavlova. If you make them right, they are really yummy!! Life is sweet :p
Thanks in advanced!
Carri

[Mitra]

Sorry - I know the sort of meringues you mean, but they're not something I make. And I don't like the taste of splenda. I find it has an unpleasant metallic kind of taste, even in strong flavoured things like espresso, so I'm not really tempted to experiment much with it. If she's reading here, Relief might be able to help - she's worked a lot with different sugar substitutions in baking.

[Gaelen]

Carri, Splenda(TM) allegedly works for meringues, although I haven't tried it myself...I still use just a touch of sugar and vanilla extract to make my meringues very slightly sweet.

I do have a Splenda(TM) cookbook, and I'll look up meringues for you when I get a little more settled later today.

BTW, I did move your post from the other forum; I know you wanted your answer, but you do sometimes need to give us a little bit of time. And it may seem like it takes forever because you're across the pond and on a different clock from the US posters...but if you give us a couple hours to catch up, you will get an answer without needing to cross-post. The meringues with Spenda(TM) question really does belong in the kitchen forums, even if you didn't get an instant answer. ;)

I'll be back with the information that I find a little later today.

Gaelen

[Relief]

I haven't had much success making a good meringue with splenda only--you are correct that the inteaction of the sugar with the egg white is what creates the texture for a good merengue--especially for a pavlova where you want the crispness. using even a tablespoon of sugar can make the thing work--and then boost the sweetness with whatever you want--stevia or splenda for example. the sugar alcohols dont work either; maltitol and xylitol make a flat chewy end product--yuck! very promising is a new product called inulin which is a fiber with a sweet taste. you can get it at netrition.com. The comercial meringue cookies that I see all contain it. it is very healthy very natural and VERY useful for baking. ( it is also VERY expensive as yet --yikes--hope the price somes down as people discover it) I haven't tried it yet for meringues but it is a wonder in cookie recipes!

[Billie]

Carri send a PM to Gabriel he has been experimenting with merinques the last few weeks at home and is having trouble keeping the splenda merinques from falling. Although they taste great they are not as nice looking as the ones done with sugar. So please send him an email, I definitely will tell him about this post, umbelievable timing, I have 6 Birthday nests sitting at home made from meringue that are to be filled with raspberries for dessert.

[Carri]

Gaelen,
I originally posted my cooking with splenda Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. which would be your early Wednesday morning I think. So after 24 hours without an answer I posted it in two other places cause I wasn't sure it was being seen by enough people. I needed to make it today so I was eager to get an answer. Anyway, I hope I didn't come off as impatient I just needed to make it right then. I am still finding the ropes around this forum and so next time I will try to keep the subjects within the proper thread. Sorry, Thanks for everything else.

Billie, what is a PM?

Cheers,
Carri

[Billie]

Ah Cari it is a Personal Message--if you go to the top of your screen, right side and it says Welcome Cari, under it is a line called Private Message, click on that, and you can send PMs to anyone (who allows it). Since you are doing meringues and he is too, I thought you could collaborate on a great recipe! Reliefs advice though makes so much sense, I think it is worth a shot!

[Gaelen]

Carri, this is a recipe I have had for awhile. As I recall, both worked...but the key is to use a glass or stainless steel mixing bowl that is absolutely clean of any fats, ROOM TEMPERATURE egg whites, and to add the sweeteners very very gradually to the meringue.

This one uses Spenda (TM) and is a recipe for Meringue Cookies that appeared long ago on the active low carber boards:
4 egg whites
12 packets Splenda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
Separate the eggs while cold (make sure to get whites only!) and then let the egg whites come to room temperature. Beat egg whites to soft peaks. Mix splenda, cornstarch, and cinnamon, and then beat into the soft peak egg whites a tablespoon at a time until the egg whites are at the stiff peaks stage. (Now, for cookies, add extract and fold in nuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment and bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes.) (For a pavlova or for nests, I'd put spoonsful of the stiff meringues onto oiled parchment paper (don't use cooking spray) and make a well in each nest. Again, bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes, or until crisp outside but not browned.

This one uses Stevia plus sugar, also from activelowcarber.com. I used a tablespoonful of regular sugar and just a 1/2 teaspoonful of Stevia to get the texture and sweetness I wanted.

Almond Meringue Cookies
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon SteviaSweet
1 tablespoon sugar
Beat egg whites until stiff. Mix well. Add extracts, sugar and stevia.

(the baking instructions are the same as for above) 32 Calories per cookie.

Hope this helps.
Gaelen

[Gaelen]

Some more hints about cooking with Splenda (TM) from my "Cooking with Splenda (TM)" supermarket cookbook:

"In recipes where sugar would add bulk, texture, moisture and browning, adjustments must be made if Splenda is used instead. Here are some tips:

"Candy and frosting -- Because sugar is crucial to taste and structure, Splenda's makers recommend replacing only one-quarter of it with Splenda.

Brown sugar -- If a recipe calls for brown sugar, you can use molasses mixed into Splenda. Cookie dough was stickier than usual but otherwise OK.

Creaming -- When making cookies, Splenda creams well into butter, but adding eggs turns the mixture wet and lumpy, like cottage cheese. When flour is added, this problem disappears.

Spreading -- Splenda doesn't spread, so flatten cookies before baking.

Texture -- Replace only the white sugar in cookie recipes that use brown sugar too, to keep a chewy crunch.

Yeast activation -- Splenda won't do it, so add at least 2 teaspoons sugar.

Rising -- Splenda alone in cupcakes and brownies doesn't rise much; add 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda per cup of Splenda.

Flavor -- Add 1 teaspoon vanilla per cup of Splenda in cookies and puddings; a little honey or molasses will boost flavor in muffins.

Browning -- Splenda's makers recommend using cooking spray to help cookies brown, but we didn't find it helped much.

Bruleeing -- Splenda doesn't caramelize, so it won't brulee. If using the baking blend, the sugar caramelizes but the Splenda stays separate and burns.

Bake time -- Reduce when using Splenda by 7 to 10 minutes for cakes, 3 to 5 minutes for cookies.

Storage -- Sugar helps preserve foods and retains moisture; wrap Splenda-baked goods well and freeze if you won't eat them within a day.

[Carri]

Thanks Gaelen,
That is alot of helpful info. I will use that in the future. I did make my meringues with a tablespoon of sugar and 3/4 C splenda, some cream of tartar, salt, vanilla and three egg whites and they browned too much and are very dry! Sorta like toast! I was gone while they were baking and my husband turned off the oven after they cook for 1 hour as per a recipe I was following although it was for sugar and not the way I made it with splenda. There is no chewy center which is what I wanted. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I never had meringue like this until I moved to England. Anyway, I will try some other time a new way, although I am tempted to just use a smaller amount of sugar.

Cheers, Carri :o

[Gabriel Guzman]

I haven't had much luck with Splenda in meringues. I needed to make nests with Swiss meringue and the consistency wasn't good enough and they collapsed during the first minutes of drying. The meringues we used for the dessert we brought to a party were made in the traditional way, with sugar.

When I used Splenda, I tried using only that or Splenda and sugar but I had to add almost 1/4 of cup of sugar to get the right consistency for me since I needed to put the meringue in decorating sleeve without having the mix drip through the nozzle. So, if I have to use that much sugar I might as well just stick with the traditional recipe for these kinds of desserts and then share them so in the end, I'll get only a fraction of the sugar in one or two nests!:cool:

Anyway, this is the basic recipe I used:


1/2 cup + 1 tbsp of sugar
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar


Preparation:

In a bowl, I added the egg whites to the cream of tartar and some of the sugar and started whisking over a sauce pan with water barely simmering. I added the rest of the sugar slowly and kept whisking until the sugar was dissolved. This took about a minute or so. Then I beat the mix with an electric mixer, using flat beaters and at full speed. I beat the meringue for two minutes on the double boiler and then put the bowl on the counter and continued beating for 3 more minutes. I've timed the beating and I get the right consistency with 4-5 minutes of beating. I know I got the consistency I need when I dip the tip of a spatula to form a peak that doesn't drip. The taste at this point is like marshmellow. I dried the meringues for 2 1/2 hours at 210 F. In our case, we didn't want the meringues to brown but if we wanted that, then I would've dried them at 400 F in a very short time. Finally, we put a couple of raspberries inside and drizzled the meringues with a Cabernet Sauvignon-hazelnut chocolate sauce to make it even more sinfully enticing!:D

We made 16-18 nests per batch so a couple one of these (if you can stop yourself from eating the whole batch) is 10 or less gr ECC (including the chocolate sauce). This is not your intervention sweet treat but when you can afford the carbs or have planned your occasional indulgence, these won't disappoint you!

This is how they looked in the end:

[Mitra]

Yeast activation -- Splenda won't do it, so add at least 2 teaspoons sugar.

I never use sugar to activate yeast. I sometimes use the active version that you just add directly to flour, or if I use fresh yeast or ordinary dried yeast, I just mix it with tepid water and let it stand a few minutes. If I'm making bread, it's just flour, water, salt, yeast, maybe some kind of fat. Oatcakes are just oatmeal, water, salt, yeast. I only put sugar in if it's a sweet dough, like panettone (I love baking, so occasionally make something like that, and take it to some social event to share around).

Of course, this probably doesn't matter much for low carb cooking, since yeast doesn't feature very much. At maintenance I can fit in the odd oatcake or pita bread, though.

[Gaelen]

Actually, Mitra, I also don't use sugar to 'activate' yeast for the same reasons you mentioned...I generally use active dry yeast or fresh yeast, neither of which needs sugar.

I did have one old reliable whole wheat bread recipe that used a tablespoon of honey in the yeast water, but that was more for the honey taste than any need of the yeast. ;)

[LisaS]

I was looking around on the web on the science of hard meringues and what the acid does in the process and what sugar does to stabilize and harden the foam - and then tried to suss out what kind of substitute might do a similar job. Didn't get far - but I think that is the way to go. Not try to find a sweetness substitute - but a structural one that doesn't effect the taste.

[Gabriel Guzman]

The most important part seems to be the presence of acid to denature the proteins in the egg white as it not only 'stretches' the proteins to their maximum but also helps make smaller bubbles that hold water in a better way. This creates a better texture that is more resistant to overbeating.

I found some interesting information regarding the type of bowls used to make meringues. I remember reading somewhere that the best bowls were copper-made (which are also more expensive!) but didn't make the connection then until now. As it turns out, one of the proteins in the egg white binds copper quite well so when egg whites are beaten in copper balls, there are tiny particles of copper that are bound to connalbumin (one of the 20+ proteins in egg whites) which in turns results in smaller bubbles and better consistency of the foam. It also results in a slightly golden color of the whipped egg whites. Cream of tartar more or less works the same way when using stainless steel bowls... anyway, how would I know, I don't have a copper bowl!:) If you happen to have a sterling silver bowl, that would probably work as well because serling silver is 5% copper!;)

Okay, assuming that the denaturation process is more dependent on the acid (cream of tartar in this case), rather than the amount of sugar, I tried again just by beating egg whites, cream of tartar and a tsp of raspberry syrup to add some sweetness. No Splenda this time. Some say one should add the acid after the first phase of the foam is set, that is when you see the egg whites still runny but very foamy. I did that and kept whisking until the cream of tartar was dissolved. Then I used the electric mixer and beat the egg whites for ~5 minutes. The consistency was okay, meaning that when I dipped the spatula the foam didn't drip. However, the consistency was too porous and seemed drier to me, and the taste wasn't sweet at all. So I added 2 tsp and 1 tsp of Splenda and beat for another 15 seconds or so. The consistency improved just a tad and so the taste. However, the mis wasn't as smooth and glossy looking as when I use the full 9 tbsp of sugar.

From basic protein biochemistry, adding a solute increses the proteins' chances of denaturation, and normally we wouldn't need much of that (solute is something that dissolves in a solvent; in this case the cream of tartar and/or sugar are the solutes and the egg white is the solven). The same process is also favored by increasing temperature and/or changing the acidity of the sollution. Indeed, the proteins get denatured just by adding cream of tartar, which acts as solute and also adds acidity but the shiny texture, at least in my experience, has come only when I use sugar. Splenda alone doesn't produce the same almost satin sheen as sugar does and only when I add 1/4 of a cup or more sugar I get that appearance.

Anyway, my experiment is still in the oven and last time I checked, the meringues weren't collapsed although they do look more porous and drier than those make with sugar only. I suspect that they will dry sooner and will start browning a bit before the 2 hours are over. We'll see how that goes!

Who says there is not mush science (and fun) in the kitchen?:D

[Gaelen]

Who says there is not mush science (and fun) in the kitchen?:D

LOL...Gabe, not me. Not only is there a LOT of fun, but in my experience, successful baking on a really high level (and a Pavlova or meringue nest certainly qualifies) is all about the science.

Now making a soup, a casserole, a saute--that's organic, that's cooking from my gut.

On the other hand, making and perfecting muffins, so that I got the rise and the consistency and the taste I wanted--that's science and experimentation all the way. Even a tablespoonful too much of kefir made the muffins gooey, and beating them too long rather than just folding the dry ingredients into the wet ones (hang the lumps) makes them tough. Not sifting the dry ingredients together first means that you just might bite into a little pebble of baking powder (yuck!) And not beating the eggs enough, for either pancakes or muffins, also compromises both the rise and the texture.

Yep, baking (at least) is all about science in the kitchen.

As for the acid required for the pavlovas...some recipes call for both cream of tartar and cider vinegar in equal parts (usually about a quarter to half teaspoonful apiece.) That would support the whole acid needed to get the small bubbles from the eggs theory. ;)

[Gaelen]

Here's a link that was posted on the yahoo! group PPBBS by Becky (meaniemouse) that gives conversion information for people attempting to cook with Splenda (TM). Enjoy!

http://users3.ev1.net/~fontlady/splenda_conversion_chart.html

[Kelly1]

Almond Meringue Cookies
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon SteviaSweet
1 tablespoon sugar
Beat egg whites until stiff. Mix well. Add extracts, sugar and stevia.

(the baking instructions are the same as for above) 32 Calories per cookie.


I want to use this recipe but I don't have SteviaSweet I use Xylitol. So does anyone how much Xylitol I would need to use to equal the SteviaSweet?

[kevinpa]

Here's a link that was posted on the yahoo! group PPBBS by Becky (meaniemouse) that gives conversion information for people attempting to cook with Splenda (TM). Enjoy!

http://users3.ev1.net/~fontlady/splenda_conversion_chart.html

This is an old link. LindaSue had to change the address of her site.
Here is th new one.

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/splenda_conversion_chart.html

[Kelly1]

Kevin, I have read that you are the dessert/food "guru" around here. I have read alot of posts requesting recipes, do you have any good very low carb desserts? I know that like asking for a zero calorie cheesecake, but I thought I would ask anyway.. :)

[kevinpa]

Kevin, I have read that you are the dessert/food "guru" around here. I have read alot of posts requesting recipes, do you have any good very low carb desserts? I know that like asking for a zero calorie cheesecake, but I thought I would ask anyway.. :)
I'm really not sure what you are looking for Kelly but I have a simple coconut cookie in the sweets forum in the cookie thread that is very low carb and very tasty.