Post by Katherine on Apr 23, 2013 22:08:57 GMT -5
Christina, this is what was posted on the FB page...
Sweet Juice Concentrate is a spin off Debi Pearl's Sweet Juice. It's basically sweet stevia water used in recipes. The soaking processes removes the bitter taste of stevia and gives reciepes like Chocolate Cake a more sweet sugar taste. Don't let the soaking process scare you... it's super simple!
(I will update this as I conduct more experiments)
In a 16 oz glass jar fill with filtered water and mix in 1/2 Tablespoon of PURE white stevia powder. Other mixtures with fillers like Maltodextrin won't work so don't even try. It has to be a pure stevia. Use a sharpie on the jar or post it note and write down the date and time. (Just so you can keep up if you want) Keep the lid off the jar. In 24 hours the water will taste super sweet with maybe a hint of bitterness. It's fine for baking/cooking with. But if you wait 24 more hours (for a total of 48 hours), I think it tastes much sweeter. You can put your lid on and use in your recipes. I always give the jar a good shake before I use. I store it on my counter. A mixture I tested in the frig taste different to me. I prefer the counter.
For small one meal type recipes start with teaspoons at a time. For larger recipes like cake, you can go ahead and start with a tablespoon at a time. I batter test taste. The Sweet Juice Concentrate tends to change a little everyday, so what you used in one recipe may be different a few days later in something else. Some Ladies have loved this even in their sweet tea.
I made an icing with the SJC and accidentally over sweetened it. I was able to take the sweetness down a notch with heavy cream. That may be option if you get a little crazy with the SJC. Chocolate mixtures seem to "gobble up" sweetness so whatever taste good, I go ahead and add a little more. I have only had to do that chocolate bake items so far.
I am currently making a stronger SJC and testing that. I will update when I have some results. I will also conducts some experiments with boiling and reducing mixture to see what that does.
Enjoy your sweetness! With SJC, possibilites are endless without the bitterness
Blessings & Happy Baking,
Destiny Ramsey
SJC update! So, I did simmer some SJC and it took it back to it's natural bitter state. Epic Fail! I want to let all you THM's know that if you eat Sweet Leaf you may be surprised to know that I've had some sitting in jar for 4 days and it still hasn't dissolved. It will not breakdown in the water no matter how much I stir. If it doesn't breakdown in water, it's probably not breaking down in your food or body. It really isn't sweet either. I had a friend buy the store brand of stevia from Whole Foods. She compared to my SJC made with NuNaturals and it said hers wasn't sweet either. So- I think NuNaturals Pure Stevia powder is the best. I did try another hand at making a sweeter concentrate and I do like it. I mixed 1 full Tablespoon in 8oz of water. It took 4 days to really taste nice and sweet. Well worth the wait. When I made this same mix in a larger size, 2T in 16 oz of water, it turned out different. So maybe the breakdown maxes out in a jar. Seems weird, but scientifically speaking, it would taste better to have 4 jars of 8 oz of water, each with a Tablespoon of NuNaturals than to have 32 oz with 4 Tablespoons. You would either have to wait a month for it to sweeten or so much concentrated just doesn't work as well. Make sense?
So if you want a lighter sweetened SJC and save some $$$ 1/2 of Tablespoon in 16 oz soaked for 48 hours is fine. For a much sweeter concentrate 1 full tablespoon in 8oz of water soaked for 4 days is tasty!
Some of you have asked some questions about measurements. I really can't explain. It's a trial and error thing. I have been working with it so long now. I just know that 1/8cup is good in a smoothie and a few teaspoons are good in a single serving dish. Chocolate I always go overboard, as it tends to gobble up the sweetness. (a little tip: I always use to put sugar in my homemade vinaigrette dressings. at few tsp of SJC is fabulous in my dressings.) One lady mentions not liking the idea of batter tasting. I hear ya. I have my own free range chickens and so I feel safe most of the time tasting my batter. I do still have to buy eggs cause I only have 3 chickens lost a few). What I will do sometimes is mix all ingredients together, except for eggs, and do all my taste testing and then add eggs once it's sweet enough. I have noticed that my SJC changes over time and tends to weaken. A 1/4 cup at the beginning was strong and at the end of the week, I may need more than a 1/4 cup to equal that same sweetness. That's why tasting is important. Again, all about trial and error. Good Luck!
Sweet Juice Concentrate is a spin off Debi Pearl's Sweet Juice. It's basically sweet stevia water used in recipes. The soaking processes removes the bitter taste of stevia and gives reciepes like Chocolate Cake a more sweet sugar taste. Don't let the soaking process scare you... it's super simple!
(I will update this as I conduct more experiments)
In a 16 oz glass jar fill with filtered water and mix in 1/2 Tablespoon of PURE white stevia powder. Other mixtures with fillers like Maltodextrin won't work so don't even try. It has to be a pure stevia. Use a sharpie on the jar or post it note and write down the date and time. (Just so you can keep up if you want) Keep the lid off the jar. In 24 hours the water will taste super sweet with maybe a hint of bitterness. It's fine for baking/cooking with. But if you wait 24 more hours (for a total of 48 hours), I think it tastes much sweeter. You can put your lid on and use in your recipes. I always give the jar a good shake before I use. I store it on my counter. A mixture I tested in the frig taste different to me. I prefer the counter.
For small one meal type recipes start with teaspoons at a time. For larger recipes like cake, you can go ahead and start with a tablespoon at a time. I batter test taste. The Sweet Juice Concentrate tends to change a little everyday, so what you used in one recipe may be different a few days later in something else. Some Ladies have loved this even in their sweet tea.
I made an icing with the SJC and accidentally over sweetened it. I was able to take the sweetness down a notch with heavy cream. That may be option if you get a little crazy with the SJC. Chocolate mixtures seem to "gobble up" sweetness so whatever taste good, I go ahead and add a little more. I have only had to do that chocolate bake items so far.
I am currently making a stronger SJC and testing that. I will update when I have some results. I will also conducts some experiments with boiling and reducing mixture to see what that does.
Enjoy your sweetness! With SJC, possibilites are endless without the bitterness
Blessings & Happy Baking,
Destiny Ramsey
SJC update! So, I did simmer some SJC and it took it back to it's natural bitter state. Epic Fail! I want to let all you THM's know that if you eat Sweet Leaf you may be surprised to know that I've had some sitting in jar for 4 days and it still hasn't dissolved. It will not breakdown in the water no matter how much I stir. If it doesn't breakdown in water, it's probably not breaking down in your food or body. It really isn't sweet either. I had a friend buy the store brand of stevia from Whole Foods. She compared to my SJC made with NuNaturals and it said hers wasn't sweet either. So- I think NuNaturals Pure Stevia powder is the best. I did try another hand at making a sweeter concentrate and I do like it. I mixed 1 full Tablespoon in 8oz of water. It took 4 days to really taste nice and sweet. Well worth the wait. When I made this same mix in a larger size, 2T in 16 oz of water, it turned out different. So maybe the breakdown maxes out in a jar. Seems weird, but scientifically speaking, it would taste better to have 4 jars of 8 oz of water, each with a Tablespoon of NuNaturals than to have 32 oz with 4 Tablespoons. You would either have to wait a month for it to sweeten or so much concentrated just doesn't work as well. Make sense?
So if you want a lighter sweetened SJC and save some $$$ 1/2 of Tablespoon in 16 oz soaked for 48 hours is fine. For a much sweeter concentrate 1 full tablespoon in 8oz of water soaked for 4 days is tasty!
Some of you have asked some questions about measurements. I really can't explain. It's a trial and error thing. I have been working with it so long now. I just know that 1/8cup is good in a smoothie and a few teaspoons are good in a single serving dish. Chocolate I always go overboard, as it tends to gobble up the sweetness. (a little tip: I always use to put sugar in my homemade vinaigrette dressings. at few tsp of SJC is fabulous in my dressings.) One lady mentions not liking the idea of batter tasting. I hear ya. I have my own free range chickens and so I feel safe most of the time tasting my batter. I do still have to buy eggs cause I only have 3 chickens lost a few). What I will do sometimes is mix all ingredients together, except for eggs, and do all my taste testing and then add eggs once it's sweet enough. I have noticed that my SJC changes over time and tends to weaken. A 1/4 cup at the beginning was strong and at the end of the week, I may need more than a 1/4 cup to equal that same sweetness. That's why tasting is important. Again, all about trial and error. Good Luck!