Rookie Cookery

Zevia taste test

Some time ago I promised a taste test of Zevia, a sugar free soda made with Stevia, an herb that is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar and can be used as a sweetener that adds no calories.  The taste test was recorded live a few months ago, and is presented here as my very first podcast.  Although the taste test is a little long, please be advised that we tasted three different flavors of Zevia, and our reactions to the third was quite different from the first two. Then things went a little haywire. I hope you enjoy it and leave a comment.

(Editor's Note: Future posts on Zevia are here and here.)

Zevia: A Carbonated, Sugar Free Soft Drink Made with Stevia--Who Knew?

I don't usually allow comments with advertisements in them to publish, (I hate spam!)-- but this time I am making an exception. After my last post about Coca Cola's plan to produce a diet cola made with Stevia, the all natural alternative to chemical sweeteners, I learned via the comments that such an alternative beverage already exists! It is called Zevia, and is avaiable in three flavors --cola, orange and "twist", (lemon/lime). If you visit their web site, you can order it or request that your local stores distribute it. If I conduct my own taste test, I'll report about it here.

Coca Cola and Stevia: An Ironic Miracle Waiting To Happen?

Can it be true that Coca-Cola is producing a version of their soft drink that uses the safe and natural herb Stevia for a sweetener instead of dangerous chemicals or corn syrup? According to some news reports, Coca Cola, along with Cargill, is doing just that, although it will rename the Stevia as an ingredient called Rebiana.

This is fantastic news, although ironic in the extreme that a company so identified with high sugar diets, obesity, and chemical sweeteners is now embracing the herbal supplements that can deliver sweetness without compromising our health. The sceptic in me wonders if the "rebiana" will be a bastardized version of Stevia, or if Coca Cola is truly offering a healthy alternative.

This is a news story worth watching, with social and health ramifications as huge as that of Walmart offering organic alternatives in their product line. Of course, Coke and Cargill will want us to believe they "discovered" Rebiana while the media ignored and suppressed information and access to Stevia in years past. Let's just hope that the socially progressive natural foods producers who have offered Stevia during the past decade will survive the competition and find new ways to thrive and expand their business in the future.

Easy No Sugar Dessert encore

This last Memorial Day I took the easy route and  made another version of a fairly low cal dessert for my Father-in-law, (an 88 year old diabetic Veteran).  Not a lot of creativity here, folks, but it was pretty and a slightly different version of the one I made last time.  This time I used pre-made, unfrozen puff-pastry for the shell. On top of that I added a layer of sugarless vanilla pudding and rows of raspberries and blueberries.  I felt that the blue and red rows of berries on the (almost) white pudding looked vaguely patriotic, which was the intended effect.  This only underscores my belief that fresh fruit semi-artfully arrayed on a plate always looks way more fancy than it is.  Yay for berries!

Sugarless Cranberry Relish Recipe, Made with the naturally sweet Stevia herb

My friend Elise over at Simply Recipes recently shared a fantastic cranberry relish recipe. Her recipe calls for the use of a food grinder to get the perfect consistency for this condiment. I had two (minor) dilemmas: First, Either I can't find my food grinder or I foolishly gave it away before moving house last year. Hm. Fortunately Elise has found a good food grinder to buy, so I may just have to sashay over there and get one because I know I'm gonna make this again! The second dilemma: I wanted to prepare a cranberry dish that could be modified for my loved ones who can't eat sugar.

Stevia to the rescue. Stevia is a natural herb that is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, with negligible calorie count. It can be safely used instead of sugar as a sweetening agent, and is much more healthful than artificial sweeteners. The drawback is that a tiny bit of Stevia goes a very long way, so it cannot be substituted for sugar in terms of volume or textural (structural) qualities that sugar brings to baking.

The great news is, very tart fruits such as cranberries and rhubarb work particularly well with Stevia, so this cranberry relish recipe was a great candidate for a non-sugar version. It comes in both a powder and a liquid version. I bought my Stevia online, but I have seen Stevia for sale at Trader Joe's, and it is available at many health food stores also. There are several cook books on cooking with Stevia, with Stevia Sweet Recipes: Sugar-Free Naturally by Jeffrey Goettemoeller getting good reviews.

I made one batch of the relish as per the recipe below. However I then cut the batch in half and made a sugar version, and then a sugarless version with Stevia.

CRANBERRY RELISH --TWO WAYS

2 cups washed raw cranberries
2 skinned and cored apples (note: I used Granny Smith)
1 large seedless orange
1/2 cup sugar (or more, to taste) and/or 1/8 to 1/4 tsp Stevia

Note: If you have a food grinder, I recommend you grind all fruits together as in Elise's original recipe. Otherwise you can do as I did in a pinch:

1. Manually crush the cranberries with a mortar and pestle and/or potatoe masher
2. Very finely dice or chop the apples
3. Slice up the orange pieces as small as you can

Combine all the fruits and toss gently in a big bowl.
Then divide the fruit into two work bowls.

SUGARLESS VERSION:
Add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Stevia powder to the fruit, tossing gently with a rubber spatula and sprinkling the Stevia slowly and carefully to get good distribution. Start at lowest amount of Stevia, stir and very slowly add a bit more to desired sweetness. Yes, Stevia is that sweet! Technically I don't suppose Stevai macerates fruit in the same way as sugar, so you might not get a very syrup-like texture with this. However the Diabetics in my family really enjoyed this relish, so there were no complaints here!

SUGAR VERSION:

Add 1/2 to one cup sugar (to taste--see note below). Add, stir gently with spatula, and let sit to macerate about 15 minutes at room temperature. Can be refrigerated, although bring to room temperature to serve.

Cook's notes:
The original recipe called for 2 cups of sugar to sweeten the entire (non divided) recipe. If you divide it, normally one would add one cup of sugar to the sugar sweetened half of the recipe, but I used only one half cup and it was sweet enough for my family's taste. (We like tart foods). I recommend you start with 1/2 cup and slowly add up to one full cup of sugar to your desired level of sweetness.

Pumpkin Pudding Recipe, sugar free OR not

Here's a creamy and not-too-sweet pumpkin pudding recipe for those of you looking for a low calorie alternative dessert that brings a traditional taste of Thanksgiving to the table. Although using artificial sweeteners is not my favorite solution for my diabetic relatives, my Father-in-law loves this and I am glad to make it for him. The sweetness comes from packaged vanilla pudding mix, so use the regular kind if you don't mind the sugar. I ran acros this idea on the Libby's web site, posted in the comment section, but with no notes regarding amounts to use. This is my version based on that idea.

Pumpkin Pudding Recipe
Makes about six half-cup servings

one 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
one small box (one ounce weight) Jello Sugar-free, Fat-free Vanilla Instant Pudding
one 12 ounce can Evaporated milk (use low fat if desired)
Optional spices:
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Mix all ingredients until smooth and creamy, using a wire whisk. Refidgerate to thicken. NOTE: For a thicker, creamier version, use the large 2 ounce box of pudding, and add additional milk to desired consistency. Omit or decrease spices to taste, as they add a real kick! Can be scooped into individual serving cups ahead of time and covered loosely with plastic wrap, refrigerated, until ready to serve.

Sugarless Fruit Tart

As promised, here is my first attempt at a fruit tart.  I really loved being decorative with the fruit, and I will definately make more of these.  This is not a classic tart, because I did not use pastry cream or even a real tart  crust. Because I sometimes bake for family members who do not eat sugar,  I devised my own version of a tart  by using a pie crust purchased from the grocery store  (the kind you can unroll and bake immediately or keep in the freezer to thaw and use later),  which I simply "blind-baked" flat onto the baking sheet lined with a Silpat to keep it from sticking.

Instead of  pastry cream I used a sugarless and fat free "instant Jello"  vanilla pudding mix.  (I know, it has artificial sweeteners which I  prefer to avoid, but sometimes use  for diabetic family members who are willing to eat it). 

Then I used the fresh fruit,  with no other dressing or glaze.   This pretty dessert was  much appreciated by my family, and I would like to experiment further with devising a pastry cream that can be sweetened with Stevia,  a healthy alternative to artificial sweeteners, or some other way. Because  dried fruits or condensed fruit is highly caloric, I cannot safely use it for diabetics.  Nevertheless this fruit tart will make a festive and tasty treat in the meantime.  Instead of  a pie dough base, perhaps I will try a biscuit dough, very minimally sweetened  as in a shortcake style. 

I still  aim to bake a traditional fuit tart, with real pastry cream, in the near future.  Fruit desserts are gorgeous, a feast for the eyes and deceptively simple to make.