simple syrup

[Antmaymay]

I saw a show last night called "Blaines Low Carb Life" (I think, I know it is Blaine) He made a simple syrup using equal parts Splenda and Water. He boiled them to cook them down and he keeps it in a seal top container for flavoring different dishes. To me it reminds me of what we do with Davinci's except without a flavor to go with it.

I thought this was interesting. I just thought you guys might could use this idea in your cooking.

[LindaSue]

I noticed that Blaine used that syrup in quite a few things throughout his series, but I could never figure out his reason for doing so. He could have just as easily added the Splenda and water separately since granular Splenda dissolves instantly in liquid, unlike real sugar. It would also be more accurate to measure the Splenda dry than to guess at how much sweetness you're adding with that syrup, not to mention all the excess liquid you might be adding to your recipe.

[Dottie]

When he made it, was it thick like a simple syrup? I was wondering how, if it was?

[Antmaymay]

It was not as thick as say maple syrup, more liquid than davinci's.

I think there are lots of usage for this mixture. One that I would use it for is lemonade. Here in the south there are lemonade stands at fairs and flea markets that squeeze their own lemons and then add them to a simple syrup. Made of sugar of course. It does create a sweetness that simply adding sugar does not.

I am no chef but I would have to think that cooking the liquid with the sugar concentrates it some what.

[Dyin' Isis]

I doubt this is the same thing, chemically. Sucrose, or table sugar, is a disaccharide - meaning it's made up of two chemically bonded sugars, in this case covalently bonded molecules of glucose and fructose. Heating it in a simple syrup denatures the sugar - it dissolves that bond and separates it into its component parts. This is why simple syrup tastes sweeter than just adding sugar - it's the synergistic effect of adding two sweeteners. Many people do this all the time with splenda/equal, saccharine/equal, stevia/splenda, etc. Try it next time you order iced tea unsweetened. You'll be amazed how much sweeter a combination of "blue stuff" and "pink stuff" is, compared to the same amount of just one of those.

I don't know the chemical structure of Splenda will do the same thing. As far as I know, it's already denatured by adding in a chlorine molecule so that the body will not recognize it or digest it as a carbohydrate compound.

I'm with Linda - it's better in a recipe to go with the devil you know. I see no really good reason to use Splenda in a simple syrup form.

Just my $0.02...

[Charski]

Not to mention that you will have to account for the carbs in the powdered form - 24 per cup used. The nice thing about the simple syrup from DV is that since it's made with highly-concentrated sucralose, the carbs are negligible.

It's a good idea but I prefer using the already liquid versions (DaVinci, Torani, FiberFit or one of the concentrates if you can still get them!) works best for me because I can avoid the carbs from the fillers they put into the powdered stuff.

Char

[scott123]

Dyin' Isis, that's interesting. I had never thought about synergy within the context of inverted sugar in a simple syrup. In fact, I had never really considered sugar to be synergistic, that synergy was just an artificial sweetener phenomenon. What you're saying does make sense, though. I'm still trying to ascertain whether or not the small amount of sweetness in polyd is synergistic with other sweeteners. For a long time I thought no, but now I'm not so sure.

As far as the simple syrup is concerned... For me, a huge part of the appeal of simple syrup is not just the sweetness is brings to the party but the syrupy texture it provides. The only thing that I've found that does the texture justice is either maltitol (which I won't use) or polyd. Neither soluble gum fiber (Davinci) nor maltodextrin (splenda) appeals to me in this type of application.

[Sue421]

Yes, I agree with you, Scott. I don't think it is really possible to make a proper syrup without those ingredients you mentioned or something along those lines. The vegetable gums make more of a thickened sweet sauce than syrup, but for some that works okay. For me, I have to have the proper texture too.

[Dyin' Isis]

Interesting - I've never really applied simple syrup in a manner that equires that specific consistency - it's always ben to sweeten lemonade or iced tea, or as part of a recipe. Which could be the reason you would want to make simple syrup, actually - the recipe calls for it, and you don't want to make the conversion, maybe?

In any case, I find that pre-made syrups are very handy and come in every flavor imaginable (and some I never would have thought of). I eat so few treats right now that it's pretty moot for me. Homemade SF jell-o using liquid splenda is about the extent of my LC sweetener experimentation.

As for the syngergy issue, I admit freely that I was talking a little off the top of my head there and not from a scientific standpoint. (I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express... but I did watch Alton Brown last night! ) Anecdotally, I have always heard and percieved that simple syrup was sweeter tasting than plain table sugar. I just kind of assumed it would have to do with syngergy. I'm not about to try experimenting with invert sugars now, though...

[Jadzi]

My husband is diabetic and we love the Davinci syrups. Unfortunately the selection in our area is very limited so I've taken to making my own. It is very quick and easy to do.

Simply boil 1 cup of water in the microwave and then stir in 3/4 to 1 cup of splenda granular and voila, syrup!

For citrus flavors I grate the peel of one fruit (lime, lemon, grapefruit, orange, etc) and add it to the water BEFORE I microwave it and then I add the splenda and the juice of the grated fruit to the boiled water/peel mixture. Once its cooled I strain it into a container and store it in the fridge. This also works great with frest ginger root! Once it's cooled we mix it with sparkling water for homemade ginger ale. Its also delicious in tea.

I use food extracts for other flavors (i.e., vanilla, almond, etc) and add the extract after the water/splenda syrup has cooled and skip the straining step.

We use the flavored syrups for coffee, tea, smoothies and italian sodas. To be honest they're much stronger and more flavorful than the bottled type and I can make any combiniation I like.

J

[Dixie Barkley]

Originally Posted by Jadzi

My husband is diabetic and we love the Davinci syrups. Unfortunately the selection in our area is very limited so I've taken to making my own. It is very quick and easy to do.

Simply boil 1 cup of water in the microwave and then stir in 3/4 to 1 cup of splenda granular and voila, syrup!

For citrus flavors I grate the peel of one fruit (lime, lemon, grapefruit, orange, etc) and add it to the water BEFORE I microwave it and then I add the splenda and the juice of the grated fruit to the boiled water/peel mixture. Once its cooled I strain it into a container and store it in the fridge. This also works great with frest ginger root! Once it's cooled we mix it with sparkling water for homemade ginger ale. Its also delicious in tea.

I use food extracts for other flavors (i.e., vanilla, almond, etc) and add the extract after the water/splenda syrup has cooled and skip the straining step.

We use the flavored syrups for coffee, tea, smoothies and italian sodas. To be honest they're much stronger and more flavorful than the bottled type and I can make any combiniation I like.

J

I love ginger ale and your recipe sounds great. How much ginger do you use to how much syrup and is it grated or do you just use it sliced?