Review – Ideal Sweetener

I know several people with diabetes, so I’ve done a fair bit of sugar-free baking. Some of my efforts turn out well, like sugar cookies that I’ve made with Splenda; others have gone horribly awry, like my attempt at baking a birthday cake. It’s a long and sad story, but I’ll spare you the details and leave you with this charming visual. (No, I didn’t attempt to serve it to the guest of honor!)

Even at the best of times, sugar-free baked goods taste different from regular cakes and cookies. So when Heartland Sweeteners sent me some samples of Ideal, their no calorie sugar free sweetener, I was expecting it to have that typical artificial flavor. But Ideal is a little bit different from other sweeteners that I have tried, because it is made from xylitol, which is a natural sweetener found in many fruits and vegetables.

I recently made dinner for six because I had some dear friends visiting from out of town. I wanted to make a cake for dessert, and I thought this would be a good time to put Ideal to the test. None of the people attending were diabetics or use sugar substitutes, so they would be the most apt to notice a difference in flavor.

I made one of my all-time favorite cakes, Black Midnight Cake. I’ve made this recipe many times and know exactly how it ought to taste. Heartland Sweeteners say that Ideal measures cup-for-cup like sugar, so I put in the same amount of Ideal as I would regular sugar. I mixed up the batter, and noticed that it was the same consistency as always. I gave the batter the all-important “Lick the beaters” test, and was very surprised that it tasted the same as always. I’ve never tried a sugar substitute that didn’t taste “off”. But how would it turn out after baking?

So far, so good. The cake was much more dense than normal, but I also substituted applesauce for eggs, which I think had more to do with it. The cake seemed to bake faster than normal – however, my oven is broken and cooks everything at varying temperatures and speeds these days!

I frosted the cake and got ready to greet my guests. We had a nice evening together, and after dinner, we were ready for dessert. I warned them all about the sugar substitute, so that they wouldn’t just say it tasted good out of politeness – I wanted to know if they could tell the difference. You know what? None of us could! I’ve been making this recipe for over 13 years, and it tasted as good as ever. This really shocked me, because I’ve never tasted any artificial sweetener that came anywhere close to replicating the real thing. Ideal surprised my guests and I, and we all enjoyed the cake.

Here’s my recipe, if you’d like to try this cake for yourself:

Black Midnight Cake

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups sugar (or Ideal Sweetener!)
2/3 cup cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon salt (I always omit this)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs (or 1/2 cup applesauce)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour baking pan, 13x9x2 inches, or two 9-inch or three 8-inch round layer pans. Measure all ingredients into large mixer bowl. Blend 1/2 minute on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan(s).

Bake oblong about 45 minutes, layers 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

This recipe is from my favorite Betty Crocker cookbook, circa 1969. It’s delicious!

Jai and I also tried the individual packets of Ideal in our tea. It wasn’t as convincing in the tea as in the cake, but it wasn’t bad. It was more of a subtle sweetness, which is much preferable to the in-your-face artificial flavor of most synthetic sweeteners which I have tasted. I was afraid that I might have to pour my tea out – I’m not a fan of artificial sugar in drinks, I’m too much of a tea purist – but it wasn’t unpleasant and I was able to finish my cuppa. I wouldn’t use something like this in drinks normally, but I can see the definite value for people who need to avoid sugar for health reasons. For baking, however, I would gladly use Ideal again.

Would you like to try Ideal Sweeteners for yourself? Click here to enter my giveaway for an Ideal prize pack!