I was curious about anybody else as I am going to start trying to work with agave nectar in place of sugar for the things I bake for my family. We've been using agave nectar for years to sweeten tea and it comes as a light, medium or dark syrup like honey, except that it's still lighter in flavor than honey and has a much lower glycemic index to that of sugar and honey. It tastes AWESOME and there is no aftertaste as it is an actual sugar that tastes LIKE sugar, but more smooth.

As a matter of fact it's safe for diabetics and it's a natural organic syrup found in the same plants that produce Tequila.


Glycemic Value of Agave compared to other sugars:

SUGARS

Organic Agave Nectar 27

Fructose 32

Lactose 65

Honey 83

High fructose corn syrup 89 [Pers. corres. w/Prof. Brand Miller]

Sucrose 92

Glucose 137

Glucose tablets 146

Maltodextrin 150

Maltose 150

Glycemic Load of our Agave Nectar 1.6

Glycemic Index Definition- GLYCEMICINDEXDEFINED.pdf from www.glycemicindextesting.com

Glycemic Load Definition- GLYCEMICLOADDEFINED.pdf from www.glycemicindextesting.com






www.agavenectar.com[url][/url]

I have not tried it in baking yet. I just got introduced to it in tea the other night. It was very good.

No, not yet, but I am going to be trying it along with stevia. I will be so thankful (if) when they finally outlaw high fructose corn syrup!

I use it for sweetening my coffee. But y'know I did use it in an apple pie. It was great. I'm gonna use it for a bourbon marinade for salmon too.

I love it to sweeten my oatmeal. The other thing I use if for is sweetening berries to use as topping for waffles, pancakes, etc. I think I read somewhere that you can use it as a one for one substitute for honey if you have a recipe that calls for it, but I haven't had much success baking with it. It's difficult to come up with the correct ratio for a substitute for sugar for baked goods like cakes - you end up with a different consistency (sometimes mush) because you're using a liquid as opposed to granules of sugar. I haven't really figured it out, but would be curious if anyone else is able to.

I have been trying to bake with it and it is going well. I use about 2/3 what the recipe requires for sugar adn I add it with the liquids. I served a cake at a dinne party that used agave in both the cake and the buttercream and didn't tell anyone. Everyone raved about how good it was and no one could tell the difference.

The only slight issue is that when I made the swiss meringue buttercream I couldn't get the egg whites as fluffy. I think there was too much liquid from the agave. not sure how to solve this other than adding it after I whip the egg whites.

Any thoughts?