Hi everyone – so I made my first batch of low carb ice cream using heavy cream, half & half, vanilla extract, puréed strawberries (actually just chopped at home using my blender) and splenda.
Everything is satisfactory except for that chemical after taste from granular Splenda. Does anyone else recommend the use of truvia or stevia instead? They're all natural, so I figure it can't be as bad as Splenda? Does anyone have a good ice cream recipe using these sugar substitutes?
I love Truvia… Some people are suspicious of it, because it has Erythritol in it, as a sugar alcohol, but I have never had any problems for it, gastric, or glucose wise… And it tastes more like real sugar.
If you can find “Stevia in the Raw” it does not contain the erythritol. We recently found it in the big bag to use with baking and cooking. Excellent taste with no issues.
See if you can find coconut crystals - they’re low glycemic and I’ve used them successfully in yogurt. Only issue is they’re hard to find and wicked expensive. I think Whole Foods sells them though.
Understand that there is “sweet” and there is “sweet.” Every sweetener actually has a different flavor and one of the reasons that different mixes of sweeteners exist is because of these subtle differences. Many people actually find splenda pretty close in taste to regular sugar. Some people think stevia has a bitter taste. Actually, I find them both quite fine. You will probably have your own tastes and you may find that over time you become accustomed to splenda or stevia and “grow” to like them. I generally prefer stevia with erythritol as my preferred option, just like Big Al. It has a pleasant (to me) taste and erythritol has a very low GI and has never caused me gastric problems.
I make my own ice cream like you, but I often will use a custard base (cooked with eggs). I have lots of recipes, but generally what I do is replace the standard “base” with the custard base. I am also a “gut” cook so I consider recipes as just “suggestions”. The custard base makes a bit richer and less of an icy ice cream. What I would also suggest to you is that actually you don’t taste the sweetness that much and that if you are adding strawberries, you may actually find you can skip some or all of the sweetener. Hope that helps.
Thanks. The ice cream I made was sort of icy, like Wendy’s frosty, as opposed to creamy. I used 5 ripe strawberries for 1.5 qt of ice cream and I couldn’t taste any strawberry flavor. I think I need to use more strawberries (maybe like 10) and cut down on the sugar substitute to make it more natural tasting. Maybe I’ll try the custard base too to make it more creamy than frosty.
Maybe it was the years of abuse from the so called sweetner saccharine that I found Equal to be a huge step in the right direction. I currently use Splenda as I find it cooks and tastes better than Equal and works for all kinds of things. I myself haven’t really found an aftertaste from Splenda and while it tastes like sugar to me I can tell the difference somehow when used in beverages such as tea, coffee, kool-aid . . . but then years of saccharine probably ruined my tastebuds.
Stevia can withstand high temperature and stay stable up to 200 degrees Celsius or 392 degrees Fahrenheit.This property of Stevia can be utilized for any food preparation.Aspartame on the other hand breaks down at over 60 degrees Cescius. That is why Aspartame tablets are never used while making tea or coffee and only added after it is made.Otherwise Aspartame will break down into methanol, formaldehyde and formic acid. Methanol is a deadly poison while formaldehyde and Formic acid are known to cause seizures, brain tumors and heart attacks. This is the biggest benefit of Stevia. I have myself tries Cid Botanical Stevia and is very satisfied. If anybody is interested try out: www.cidbotanicals.com
I use powdered stevia in homemade ice cream. I’ve also used a combo of liquid Splenda (Fiberfit from netrition.com) & stevia.
I tried many stevia brands until I found one liked. Some are bitter tasting. Two I like best are The Vitamin Shoppe brand (zero carbs, bulking agent is fiber) & Nu Naturals pure stevia powder (also zero carbs).
I’ve had trouble with the stevia + fiber not disolving well in water. The ones I’ve tried have had inulin as the filling fiber. Do you have the same problem with the Vitamin Shoppe brand (presumably KAL)?
Well, I make my own lemondae, a bit of lemon juice and stevia. I’ll give it a try, but the inulin version just floated around in little clumps. Not a pretty site.
Some people are suspicious of it, because it has Erythritol in it, as a sugar alcohol, but I have never had any problems for it, gastric, or glucose wise… And it tastes more like real sugar.