I recently took a gluten free baking class and learned about baking with unrefined sugars. Agave nectar is now one of my favorites. It has a milder flavor than honey, and doesn't spike my blood sugar as much. Below is some information I compiled while researching what these unrefined sugars are composed of.


“The Use of Nutritive Sweeteners in Organic Food Processing Operations”

The following article has some interesting information on sugars.
http://www.agavenectar.com/CRMart/CRMart1.html

Table 4 compares the sugar composition of some of the unrefined sugars:

Agave: 70% fructose, 30% glucose
Evaporated cane juice: 99% sucrose
Honey: 55% fructose, 43% glucose, 2% sucrose
Maple Sugar: 2-4% fructose, 2-4% glucose, 92-96% sucrose
Molasses: 7-11% fructose, 7-11% glucose, 45-52% sucrose

Another website I found listed Maple Sugar as: 11% glucose, 88-89% sucrose

Fructose, glucose, and sucrose are all simple sugars.

Highlights from the article: Glucose is absorbed rapidly, spiking blood sugar, which is not ideal for diabetics. Fructose is metabolized directly to fat, and therefore does not require insulin and is preferred by diabetics. Fructose if the main simple sugar found in most fruits. However, some people are fructose intolerant, meaning that they can’t metabolize fructose. I’m sensitive to my blood sugar rising, which is probably why I like any sugar, like fructose, that has a lower glycemic index than white sugar.

“Maple, honey, molasses and rice contain significant quantities of minerals and proteins that , while affecting flavor, also provide magnesium and phosphate, which are metabolically advantageous for the digestibility of the carbohydrate.”

Rice syrup has a combination of complex carbohydrates and simple sugars. Some rice syrups are made with barley malt, so you have to be careful to read the labels when buying it.


Sugar Conversions:

The Whole Foods website has sugar conversions on their web page.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/reci...weeteners.html

Sugar Equivalency Chart
I included this chart because it had conversions for date sugar. Date sugar is just dried up ground dates. When substituting a liquid sweetener for a dry one, don't forget to reduce the other liquids in the recipe. The Whole Foods chart above gives conversions for reducing liquids.

1 cup white sugar = 1 cup maple syrup, date sugar, honey
1 cup brown sugar = 1 cup maple syrup, date sugar, honey
1 cup powdered sugar = 2/3 cup maple syrup, honey = 1 cup finely ground date sugar


Other Common Natural Sugar Substitutes
Note: these are not necessarily unrefined
(Reference http://www.nutricoach.net/sweeteners.html )

Stevia is a naturally sweet plant native to Paraguay that is 30 times sweeter than sugar in its unprocessed form. With more than 1,000 studies and patents on Stevia, it is known to be all-natural, contain zero calories and have a zero glycemic index. Through a patented process the pure glycosides can be extracted from the Stevia leaves and turned into an intensely sweet powder that is 300 times sweeter than sugar. Stevia is claimed to be safe for diabetics and hypoglycemics. 2 drops = 1 tsp. of sugar. Personal note: I buy the stevia herb in bulk and grind it up as I need it.

Xylitol is a natural substance derived from the xylan of birch and other hardwood trees, berries, almond hulls and corn cobs. It was discovered in 1891 by German chemist, Emil Fischer, and has been used as a sweetening agent since the 1960's. Xylitol is a substance that occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables, and in fact, is produced in small amounts (5-15 grams per day) in the human body during normal metabolism. Xylitol enjoys wide acceptance in Japan, Finland, and the Scandinavian countries. In the Soviet Union it has been used for decades as a sweetener for diabetics. Numerous clinical and field studies performed over the past 30 years have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of xylitol as a healthy alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol. Sugar alcohols were given their consumer-friendly name because part of their structure resembles sugar and part is similar to alcohol. Sugar alcohols do not contain ethanol, which is found in alcoholic beverages. Sugar alcohols occur naturally in small amounts in fruits and vegetables, including berries, apples, and plums, but for large-scale commercial use they are manufactured from common sugars. While they are chemically very similar to sugars, they are less sweet than sugars and have fewer calories per gram.

Personal notes: I buy pure birch sugar xylitol. It looks like regular sugar, and is used the same way. Xylitol can have a laxative effect, so I use it in half the amount as called in a recipe.

Palm sugar comes from sugar palms. I haven’t found any yet, but I imagine it can be purchased at an Asian food store. It is used in Thai cooking.


Other Websites on Sugar

Here’s an interesting website discussing sugars, refined, partially refined, and unrefined.
"Rose’s Sugar Bible", by Rose Levy Beranbaum
http://www.thecakebible.com/articles...ugarbible.html

The blog version of this article has interesting comments at the end about how chefs use unrefined sugars, such as one baker substituting 1/2 of the sugar called for in a pumpkin pie recipe with date sugar:
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2005/12/sugar.html

Claire