I have used honey in baking before with good results, but what about something like say, lemonade. I made homemade lemonade the other day and hated how much white sugar I had to use. So, what is a good all purpose natural substitute for sugar?

I haven't tried it myself, but I know people recommend Stevia.

I love stevia in everything but coffee. I don't know why I don't like it in coffee, either. But it's great for cold drinks and hot tea (for me, that is.) I use it in lemonade and the kids love it.

I agree, stevia is good in everything but coffee. I sub it for half the sugar in a lot of things. You have to do it to taste, and a little stevia goes a LONG way.

Other white sugar subs are maple syrup, sucanat, agave nectar. I would personally use stevia and either agave nectar or sucanat for lemonade. Sucanat is like brown sugar, but it has a milder, better tasting flavor.

I love stevia in everything but coffee. I don't know why I don't like it in coffee, either. But it's great for cold drinks and hot tea (for me, that is.) I use it in lemonade and the kids love it.

I have never seen you before- you're so pretty!!

I agree, stevia is good in everything but coffee. I sub it for half the sugar in a lot of things. You have to do it to taste, and a little stevia goes a LONG way.

Other white sugar subs are maple syrup, sucanat, agave nectar. I would personally use stevia and either agave nectar or sucanat for lemonade. Sucanat is like brown sugar, but it has a milder, better tasting flavor.

The girls and I liked Down To Earth in Aiea when we were in HI:)

Yeah, Stevia in coffee is rank, for some reason. :shake: It's great for lemonade, though.

And second the Down to Earth thing! I LOVE that store!! I am dying down here, cause I am used to DTE, and what passes for a HFS down here is SAD! :( There's also one in Kailua, Kaimuki (I think, or near there), and over on Maui.)

Besides honey and maple syrup, Rapadura is another option. It tastes stronger than white sugar.

We just love our stevia lemonade over here! I try to use it in moderation, though, as there have been some reports of issues with its use in large quantities. So I don't use it for baking. For baking, I usually use half evaporated cane sugar, maple syrup or honey, half agave nectar. Also wanting to experiment with xylitol - it's a great alternative - but too much of it will give you diarrhea so it's not like you can use it for everything, either!

Are you starting with granular sugar, or with a sugar syrup? It takes a lot of granular sugar, and not so much sugar syrup.

A simple sugar syrup is boiling a cup of granular sugar with a cup of water. Alternately, you can mix a cup of superfine bar sugar with a cup of water, and leave it overnight- but again, that's more for a bar than a house.

I think pulped fruit, boiled in water, and then strained of pulp, gives a syrup, too, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort, necessarily. That's mostly good for fruit jellos, and jellys, and over ice cream.

You can also stir in a bit of lemon rind at the end of the boiling, if you are only using it for lemonade. This is also good for steeped teas.

Also, let's see, mashed in, strained out cranberries stain the lemonade pink. Other berries stain it different colors. I made pots of different colors for one of ds's birthday parties.

Are you more concerned about fat, or sugar? If you use cream, you don't usually use as much sugar.

For obscenely decadent, marvelous coffeee- can you get chicory? It's the root of some salad green, I'm not sure which. It's not strictly necessary. Anyway, if you steep roasted ground coffee overnight in the fridge, rather than brewing it, and then stir in sweetened condensed milk, you have the coffee of French colonies. In New Orleans, it's mixed with chicory to steep. In Vietnam, it's diluted by pouring over ice, or diluted with hot water. I'm not sure if it's doctored with chicory by itself.

If you have any hulled barley on hand, you can roast it in a skillet, grind it, and brew it like coffee. I've never tried it, being a wretched slave to the caffeine fix, but I have friends who do this.

I guess I'm not much help on the renouncing end of things......

ari

For cold drinks, I love agave. Honey doesn't dissolve easily! I also use stevia sometimes. But to counter the slightly bitter flavor, I use a little bit of regular sugar. Just a little bit helps offset it. I am loving agave, though. No strong taste. Just sweet, but without the strong sugar rush!

I have used honey in baking before with good results, but what about something like say, lemonade. I made homemade lemonade the other day and hated how much white sugar I had to use. So, what is a good all purpose natural substitute for sugar?

I love agave nectar. It is a lot like honey but it's not as thick and has a lighter flavor. It also disolves well...even in cold beverages. It is also lower on the glycemic index. It is a bit pricey and harder to find, though. You should be able to find it in a health food store. I use it in my coffee every morning!

HA! Should have read the whole thread! Anyway, another vote for agave!