It sounds tempting. Stevia, also called honey leaf, sweet herb or sweet leaf, can replace sugar, is not harmful to teeth, has no calories and is also said to be able to achieve an additional positive effect on health. In Germany, however, stevia has only been approved as a foodstuff since December 2, 2011, as previously the sweetener’s harmlessness to health was not considered assured.
Used as a sweetener or sugar substitute
Stevia, known as the plant Stevia Rebaudiana, originated in Paraguay in South America. For a long time, Stevia has been used as a sweetener and sugar substitute because of its extremely natural sweetness. The population in Brazil as well as Paraguay uses Stevia not only as a sugar substitute, but also as a medicine.
Stevia is said to be able to lead to the lowering of blood pressure as well as blood sugar. Therefore Stevia is also a suitable sugar substitute for diabetics. Stevia can also be ideally used as an alternative for sugar for neurodermatitis sufferers.
Effect of stevia
In China, Japan, USA, Israel, Mexico as well as New Zealand, the sweet plant is very popular as a sugar substitute in drinks as well as meals. The reason why stevia was not approved in large parts of Europe for a long time is that there were no scientific theses about the absolute harmlessness of consuming this alternative for sugar. In addition, studies from the 1980s, in which stevia was tested on rats as well as hamsters, showed that this sugar substitute could possibly have fruit-damaging effects.
However, current results indicate that a human would need to consume about half of his or her own body weight as a mass of stevia each day in order to obtain a comparable concentration of a stevia dosage as the hamsters and rats tested at that time.
Stevia: 300 times sweeter than sugar
In April 2010, the European Food Safety Authority published a positive evaluation of stevia. In July 2011, the European Commission’s Standing Committee voted to approve stevia tracts for use as a sweetener product. The natural sweetener has it all. Stevia, whose glycosides are found in the leaves of the plant, is about 300 times sweeter than sugar as extracted stevioside.
Recipes with stevia
To ensure that stevia as a substitute for sugar does not lead to an undesirable bitter aftertaste, it is important to dose this sugar substitute correctly. But this is not so easy. When using stevia as a powder or liquid, the manufacturer’s instructions should be followed exactly. It should also be noted that in many recipes for cakes, sugar not only has a function as a sweetener, but also contributes to the volume of the dough and provides a fluffy consistency.
Stevia is best suited for a shortcrust pastry, curd-oil pastry or even yeast dough. But: stevia can not be caramelized!
Recipe for a marble cake with stevia
So the classic marble cake can also succeed with stevia:
- 500 g flour
- 1 sachet baking powder
- 250 g soft butter
- 4 eggs, size M
- 1 vial of rum flavoring
- 1 vial vanilla flavor
- 125 ml milk, plus 2 tablespoons of milk
- 2 tbsp cocoa
- 1 tsp stevia powder
- 1 pinch of salt
Place eggs in a large bowl and beat together with butter until fluffy. To this add milk, stevia, salt and rum and vanilla flavoring, continue beating. Mix baking powder with flour, gradually add this mixture to the mixture in the bowl, mix to form a dough. Pour 2/3 of the dough into a greased loaf pan, mix the rest of the dough with 2 tablespoons of milk as well as cocoa. Add cocoa dough to the loaf pan, use a fork to marble light and dark dough together. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C convection oven for about 50 to 60 minutes. This cake can also be snacked by diabetics!
