Cooking with sweeteners

Sweeteners do not always work in recipes the same way as sugar. Here are some tips when cooking with sweeteners.

Alternative sweeteners come in granule, liquid and tablet form.

All can be used to add to foods and drinks, like tea or coffee. However, if you want to use them in cooking instead of sugar, there are some things to be aware of, as sweeteners do not always work in recipes in the same way as sugar.

Here are some guidelines:

• Some sweeteners (mostly aspartame-based products) are not suitable for use in dishes that are baked at high temperatures or for a long time, as they lose sweetness when heated for long periods. Some can only be used in uncooked or lightly-cooked items (like cheesecakes, pie fillings, etc) or added after baking. Check the packaging for details if you are not sure. Liquid sweeteners, in general, are suitable for baking and don’t lose sweetness.

• If using granulated sweeteners that work ‘spoon for spoon’ with sugar, you can replace by volume. But make sure you don’t replace ‘weight for weight’, as sweeteners are much lighter and more concentrated than sugar.

• Sweeteners don’t brown or caramelise in the same way as sugar. Try using milk as a glaze instead if your dish does not brown.

• If you replace sugar with sweetener in baking, you may find the final texture is different from the sugar version. Biscuits tend to be softer, and cakes tend to be harder. You may also find they won’t keep as long. This is because sugar acts as a preservative in baked goods.

• Baking times may be different when replacing sugar with sweetener (shorter or longer, depending on the recipe).

• If using sweetener in a favourite recipe, experiment. You may find it useful to replace half the sugar only at first to retain the volume and texture of your cake or cookies.