Does Splenda caramelize?
Do any of you know if splenda caramelizes and melts like regular sugar? My parents are doing a low-carb, low-sugar diet and I'd love to surprise them with some diet-friendly hard candies.
Best Answer
On the Splenda website it says that Splenda doesn't caramelize like sugar. Admittedly, it is talking about getting the golden brown colour in your baked goods, but I suspect since it doesn't happen in that instance, it wouldn't work in a hard candy.
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Quick Answer about "Does Splenda caramelize?"
When heating Splenda Sugar BlendCan artificial sweetener caramelize?
Yes, you can caramelize Splenda like sugar. It is not recommended though because Splenda does not melt like sugar. Instead, it gets very hot and burns easily. To caramelize Splenda, place a teaspoon of Splenda into a saucepan and set the pan over medium heat.What sugar substitute will caramelize?
Allulose is the only sweetener that caramelizes like sugar without crystallizing or getting lumpy. The caramelization process is the same as using sugar. In fact, it's easier and only takes about 5 minutes from start to finish. Allulose.org will answer all the questions that you may have about allulose.What happens to Splenda when heated?
Considering the validity of published data, we conclude that sucralose can be degraded at high temperatures, e.g. during cooking or baking of sucralose-containing foods. As a consequence potentially toxic chlorinated compounds might be generated.Does Splenda boil like sugar?
On the Splenda website it says that Splenda doesn't caramelize like sugar. Admittedly, it is talking about getting the golden brown colour in your baked goods, but I suspect since it doesn't happen in that instance, it wouldn't work in a hard candy.Comparing Sweeteners for Caramelization
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Answer 2
It's my understanding that sucralose (what makes Splenda sweet) is REALLY sweet, so much of what's in a measure of Splenda is fillers to bring the volume up so similar amounts of sugar and Splenda sweeten things a similar amount. I very much doubt that the fillers would behave as sugar does in a candy.
You can bake with it in situations where sugar isn't chemically necessary for the success of the dish, but otherwise it's not much like sugar.
Sugar-free candies that use sucralose most likely have a bunch of other stuff in them that is the "hard candy" part, and the sucralose is only the sweetener.
Answer 3
Splenda does not work for making hard candies, I learned this the hard way. I tried to make peanut brittle for my grandmother and it turned into a sticky mess... twice. I thought maybe I did something wrong the first time, but after looking it up discovered that splenda (even the boxes branded "for baking") will not be good for candy making.
Answer 4
I think the only sweetener that has candy-making properties like sugar is Isomalt. You should check if Isomalt is allowed in their diet.
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