Sugar in baking
smudges dad
Posts: 36,989 Forum Member
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Most recipies for cake, biscuits etc use massive amounts of sugar, whereas bread uses a bit to get the yeast going and that's about it.
Is the sugar in a sponge cake there for structural reasons or just to make oit taste sweet? What I mean is, is the sugar essential for the baking process such as improving the structure or would everything be the same without it.
I'm asking because I like cake etc, but as a diabetic I can't eat much of it. When I've tried baking with minimal sugar it's gone a bit flat, but is that because of the sloppiness of the mix without sugar (possibly increasing viscosity) and I never know how much spendour etc to use to replace it.
Is the sugar in a sponge cake there for structural reasons or just to make oit taste sweet? What I mean is, is the sugar essential for the baking process such as improving the structure or would everything be the same without it.
I'm asking because I like cake etc, but as a diabetic I can't eat much of it. When I've tried baking with minimal sugar it's gone a bit flat, but is that because of the sloppiness of the mix without sugar (possibly increasing viscosity) and I never know how much spendour etc to use to replace it.
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Comments
Probably a bit of both.
You can reduce the amount of sugar you use but very little or no sugar will just result in an icky mess and basically it's no longer cake, more like rich pastry.
I believe some people add ground almonds to reduced-sugar cakes but I'm not sure in what quantities or whether ground almonds is much better for you than sugar.
don't try and match weight - i did once - d'oh!!!!!!!!!