Baking Secrets For Sugar-Free Deserts

If you are used to baking with sugar, it may take a little getting used to stocking your pantry for a low-sugar or sugar-free lifestyle. Once you realize that your sweet life is not over just because you are cutting back on sugar, you will be just fine. Here are some tips to help you stock a pantry with baking supplies needed to make sugar-free desserts.

Sweetening the Pot without Sugar

The most obvious ingredient for baking sugar-free desserts is a substitute for sugar. There are a number of artificial sweeteners that are widely available, including aspartame (Equal), acesulfame-k (Sweet One), saccharin (Sweet 'n' Low) and sucralose (Splenda). They can be a little tricky to use in baking because they have different properties than sugar, but there are many sugar-free dessert recipes using each of them. Because each of them differs from the others in the way they react to heat and the amount of sweetening power they have, it is also important to use the artificial sweetener that is called for in the recipe. Aspartame, for instance, loses its sweetness in when it is subjected to high heat for long periods of time as it would be if you use it in cakes or cookies that are baked in the oven. Splenda, on the other hand, is stable in heat and can be used in baked recipes, but may need additional liquid.

In addition to artificial sweeteners, there are natural sweeteners that you can use for no-sugar-added desserts. These include long-established favorites such as honey, Stevia, molasses and corn syrup, but are not limited to the obvious sweeteners. Fruit juices can add sweetness and enhance flavors when used in place of water in recipes. Apple and grape juice are the sweetest, but not the only fruit juices that you can use to sweeten desserts. Try sweetening with pineapple or orange juice for a bit of tang, or pear juice for a light sweetness.

Keep a package or two of sugar free gelatin and pudding in the pantry as well. They make moist additions to cake and cookies, adding both flavor and color. Do not forget unsweetened chocolate squares, cocoa powder, and flavored extracts - the staples are vanilla, almond, rum, butter and peppermint.

Adding a Little Spice to Dessert

When your senses are not overcome with sugar, you will find that a little spiciness goes a long way. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger are the so-called "sweet spices". They will bring out the sweetness in smaller amounts of sugar or other sweeteners and are especially flavorful when used with fruit juice or puree.

Savory spices can also add an unexpected flair to dessert. Do not be afraid to experiment a little. Chili adds an unexpected bite to strawberries, for instance, and herbs like peppermint, lavender and rosemary do a wonderful job of enhancing the flavor of ice cream and fruit sorbets.

Sugar Does More than Make Things Sweet

Keep in mind that sugar provides more than just sweetness in a lot of recipes. It can be the reason that cakes and cookies brown when they bake, aid rising and provide moisture and texture. That is why a favorite pantry staple for sugar-free cooking is baby food - pureed bananas, pears, plums or applesauce - just about any kind of baby food fruit puree will do. It will add both sweetening and moisture to cakes, muffins, breads and cupcakes along with extra nutrition.

Flaked coconut is another pantry staple that will do double duty in your sugar-free pantry. It adds sweetness and flavor to cakes and cookies, and browns nicely when sprinkled on baked goods and run under the broiler.

A jar or two of sugar free fruit spread are handy to keep in the pantry. They can be stirred into plain yogurt for a quick snack or easy dessert, or spread on pound cake instead of frosting to add flavor and extra sweetness.

Peanut butter is another staple that should be in every sugar-free pantry. It will add flavor to muffins, cookies or cakes, as well as substituting for part of the fat. Thinned with a few tablespoons of milk and stirred over low heat, it makes a quick dessert topping or sauce, and pairs very well with chocolate or bananas. Be sure to read the label carefully, since a lot of peanut butters have a surprising amount of sugar in them.

The more you cook without sugar, the easier it will be to create tasty, healthy desserts. As your taste buds - and those of your family - adjust to less sugar, you will find that other flavors come more and more to the fore. It will not be long at all before you find that you prefer desserts that are fresher and lower in sugar because they naturally taste better.

Sandy Darson is a freelance writer, who specializes in writing about cooking and weight loss techniques, sometimes discussing specific products such as Splenda.

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Let the Kids Bake Cookies in Their Own Solar Oven!

Ever heard of a solar oven? Think you can build your own? Not only can you, your kids could build it too and use it to bake cookies on your next camping trip.

When our kids first heard about solar ovens we didn't think it would be easy to do but we were mistaken.

Not only is a simple solar oven easy to make, they actually work! And they're perfect for camping trips. Now we can bake up some fresh cookies while we're camping, something we've never been able to do before and you can too.

Here's how. The first thing you need to do is to save your pizza boxes. One per child. The pizza box becomes the oven.

Close the lid of the pizza box as if you were keeping your pizza warm.

Let the kids decorate the outside of their pizza boxes or you can paint or cover the outside in black paint or paper.

Using a sharp knife (parent supervision here or a parent does this part depending on the age of the child) cut along three sides of the pizza box lid, about an inch or two from the edges. This should create a flap.

On the inside of this flap, use some regular white glue and apply tin foil to the entire inside area of the flap. Try your best to get out all the creases from the foil as you press it against the flap.

Now, open up the lid and line the inside of the whole lid with saran wrap or plastic wrap. You want to make this is as snug as you can, creating a nice seal along the edges of the inside of the lid of your pizza box.

This will create a window where you just created your flap.

Using tin foil again line the entire inside of the pizza box.

Find a stick or other sturdy stick like object and after you've closed the lid, open up the flap and hold it open with your stick or other object. Face in the direction of the sun and it won't take long for the inside of your pizza box to heat up.

When you're ready to bake some cookies place the dough in small cookie balls, slightly flattened inside your new oven. With the box lid closed and the flap held open, face your oven into the sun and wait for your cookies to bake!

Baking in a solar oven will take a little longer than in a regular oven depending on the temperature but well worth the wait.

Happy Camping!

Leanne Arnott invites you to read more articles about taking your family camping or going on a family hiking trip at http://www.family-camping-and-hiking.com. You can add your submissions on many topics and subscribe to our monthly ezine.

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How Do Fortunes Get Inside Fortune Cookies?

Have you ever sat inside of a Chinese restaurant and wondered how they got that fortune inside the little golden cookie? It seems like a complex piece of origami, but it really is quite a simple process.

After the fortune cookie went public in America around 1914, people fell in love with the little delicacy. Although stories differ as to exactly who invented the cookie and where, it is agreed that the cookie was born in California and appeared at the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair. A purely American creation, the cookie is not native to China as most think. But what would a Chinese meal be without the crisp goodie to look forward to? After all, we have to find out what our future holds.

So, how do they get those bits of wisdom inside the cookie? Back in the day, workers, such as those at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company, would pour a 3 inch circle of batter onto a pan. It would cook quickly and the worker would pull it off the bake top with chopsticks, place the fortune paper on the cookie, and then, using the chopsticks, bend it into its well-known form. This process became an art form as workers' hands carefully formed the cookies.

It is only relatively recently that the fortune cookie met up with modern technology. In San Francisco in 1974, a man named Edward Louie, Lotus Fortune Cookie Company's owner, devised a machine that could automate the fortune cookie making process. He called his technological advance the Fortune III. His machine used the same basic methods of pouring out a disc of batter and baking it. Only now, the cookies, while still warm, could be picked up by metal pincers, have a fortune laid down on them, and be folded into the classic crescent shape - all in a matter of seconds.

The reason these cookies can be folded when hot is due to the properties in sugar. The batter basically consists of flour, sugar, water and eggs. When heated, these ingredients are malleable for a few seconds before they harden to a shiny, hard surface. Those precious few seconds mean a fortune can be included as part of the treat.

Now, automated machines can fold up to 8,000 cookies every hour. That's a lot faster than the hand done versions. And it's just as well because the demand has grown over the years for this crispy Confucian confection. People are now ordering custom fortune cookies for their weddings, birthday parties, corporate and business events and even as sympathy messages.

They now come in every size from tiny to gigantic. You can order them in just about any flavor you like including chocolate dipped with candy embellishments.

Today's fortunes range from wise sayings to lottery numbers. People are customizing their sayings to include marriage proposals, business logos and just about everything else you can imagine. For a small fee, companies online will insert any saying you want into the cookie of your choice. It's a delightful surprise to see a personalized saying inside a fortune cookie. No other cookie on the planet is considered a bearer of sage advice.

Although few people would list the fortune cookie as the best tasting cookie, it is considered a fun cookie in a class by itself.

Betty Ann Sherman is a mother and a baker of tasty treats. She has a special passion for baking cookies, pies, cakes, and everything wonderful. She enjoys making and eating custom fortune cookies. Check back for updates from Betty on her delicious treat adventures.

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