Agave – bFeedme

Chocolate Cake Slice

I recently posted about Agave, and how it’s made my life as the wife of a diabetic so much easier. See, with Agave syrup you don’t get the nasty aftertaste that artificial sweeteners leave. And while I cook with Stevia, another natural sweetener, quite frequently, it has a bitterness that doesn’t do well with baked goods and desserts.

As I previously mentioned, though, Agave is a fructose sugar- so it will raise your blood sugar, but slowly. And slow is good.

This Agave chocolate cake has become one of our staples here at home- even if you’re not diabetic, it just tastes great. Try it out, and let me know what you think:

Agave Chocolate Cake Recipe
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup agave syrup/nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, whip the butter until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by agave syrup and vanilla extract. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the sour cream. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the milk, before stirring in the remaining flour mixture. Mix only until just combined.

Bake for 22-28 minutes, until a toothpick comes out dry or with some moist crumbs attached. Do not overbake.

Frost with a Ganache made with sugar-free or low-sugar chocolate.

Agave

It isn’t easy being married to a diabetic, especially when you run a home baking business and are up to your elbows in granulated sugar on most days. I’ve posted several diabetic recipes before, but today I want to talk about one of my favorite ingredients ever, and something that’s made life so much easier for my dear husband: Agave syrup.

Agave syrup is a natural sweetener- which means that it’s not artificial like Splenda or Aspartame- from the Agave, a succulent plant common to Mexico (see photo above). Also known as Agave “nectar”, it’s similar to honey- but, as we soon discovered after receiving our first bottle, so much better.

It’s better because, unlike honey, Agave is sweeter in taste- so you need less of it. It also tastes less “floral” than honey, giving it a flavor closer to real sugar. It’s also better than honey because it has a much lower glycemic load.

It’s important to note, though, that Agave will affect your blood sugar levels. It’s made up mostly of fructose, so it’s definitely not a free-for-all food for diabetics. What is is is a worthy alternative for diabetics like my husband.