Sugar alternative when beating eggs and sugar together
If I wouldn't want to use refined white sugar in recipes warranting sugar and eggs beaten fluffy, what would be the best alternative to use? Would the result be very different?
Best Answer
I find that the chemical and mechanical reactions between egg-white, egg-yolk and sugar is quite an delicate and complex one. I find that there is even a difference in using white refined cane sugar and white refined beet sugars when baking and the amount of effort of creaming eggs and sugar. Sugar substitutes that claim that they "behave" the same as sugar also don't seem to react in a manner that you'd expect.
I would suggest that you try a range of sugars... The worse of them seems to be corn based sugars. The eggs just don't behave at all...
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What happens if you overbeat eggs and sugar?
NOTE: While the egg yolks are beaten, large amounts of sugar can be added by tablespoons; if too much is added at once, it can cause the yolks to speckle. You beat long enough to dissolve the sugar and the mixture will ribbon.How do you combine sugar and eggs?
Adding in sugar has many benefits. Sugar pulls the water from the structure and allows it to hold its shape better; egg whites beaten without sugar will not peak as firmly as those with. Beaten whites can also sit and hold their shape longer than foams without sugar.Can you whip eggs without sugar?
The goal in beating eggs and sugar is to incorporate plenty of air into the mixture for a light and fluffy cake. Because these cakes rely on eggs for structure and lift, properly aerating the mixture is crucial. In other words, ribbon stage is key to the texture and height of your final baked cake.Whipping Eggs and Sugar to a volume
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Answer 2
Use maple sugar.
Things will taste better*, but cost more.
*unless, of course, you are a person who does not like real maple (of whom there are a surprising number, though I cannot claim to understand that.)
For ice cream/sorbet/gelato/frozen desserts, most "sugar substitutes" (low calorie sweeteners, etc) don't really work, as sugar plays an important structural role in how ice cream turns out. Being sugar, maple sugar (or other "unrefined/less refined" sugars) work fine.
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