Hi awriter,

thank you for the good update on sugar free! this global research is going well!

I'm not a scientist but i have spent 20 years in pastry kitchen, that is where my knowledge for ingredient come from.

The point of the research was to find out options for "sugar-free" chocolate bar (as i have a bean to bar business). Making desserts sugar free, low carb, gluten free, egg free etc.. based on chocolate that taste even better than regular is actually (for me...) the easy thing! i did it for the past 10 years.

The difficult part is to create a chocolate bar that is completely sugar (sucrose) free and still being of good taste and at least not more harmful than the one made with real sugar.

I haven't started yet with the physical testing, at the moment we are talking just theoretically. We still believe that our 85% dark chocolate and our 95% "40 hour conche" is still the best bet for our diabetic clients.

Ps: i going to have a look at your blog!

Hi, folks - just came across this discussion and hope to add some helpful information.

First, I've been in R&D for the last four years to create the first all-natural (no chemicals, preservatives, agave, maltitol or artificial sweeteners, including sucralose) sugar-free desserts in the country. The one rule that every dessert has to pass before being added to our line is that it be fine restaurant quality, and in look, taste and texture, be as good as or better than the 'real thing.' When we do taste testing with guests we do not tell them the item is sugar-free, and enjoy watching their jaws drop when we inform them after they give their detailed feedback.

We launch in a few months as Good For You Goodies. Desserts that are actually good for someone to eat. Why do I say good for you to eat? Because after the 60 Minutes expose on sugar (that would include ALL forms, including cane juice, raw, etc.) about how it, and not fat, is a cause of some types of heart disease and cancer, as well as the cause of obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes -- which the scientific community has known for years -- it should be clear to any thinking person that avoiding this toxin forever is imperative for long-term health. But back to sweeteners.

Why no agave? Because until high fructose corn syrup, which is 55% fructose and in sufficient quantities will not only give you NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, now a raging epidemic in this nation's children) -- agave syrup is 77% to 99% fructose! Sure, it doesn't raise blood sugars, but that's only because it's handled by the body differently than glucose, in that it goes straight to the liver for processing. If you want to get very, very sick, use lots of agave syrup. Maltitol is bad because unlike other sugar alcohols (xylitol and erythritol, which the body cannot 'see' and therefore excretes without effect on blood sugars), it will spike insulin and blood sugars: a double whammy. Upshot: Avoid . And Stevia? My medical and science research, as well as real-time work with Participants on my blog (see below), show that it interferes in metabolic processes involving fat accumulation (though I haven't yet pinned down the biological pathways) so that's out. Just as well, the stuff is bitter no matter what brand, or how it's used -- and I've tried every single brand and type on the market. Truvia is truly disgusting.

How do I know all this? I run a blog on the Science of Nutrition, Obesity and Diabetes: Sugarfreegoodies

But back to chocolate. After years of experimenting, it became clear that creating chocolate bars or candy for mass production without agave or maltitol was impossible. Either it tasted bad, gave you the runs, or both. And it cost a fortune, making retail prices prohibitive.

Instead, I concentrated on chocolate desserts, where unsweetened chocolate could be melted and, with the alchemy of natural sweeteners I spent years, blood, sweat and tears to discover, come through the looking glass as fabulous ganache, brownies, etc. The sole exception is my sugar-free chocolate chip cookie, for which we use Callebaut 86% chocolate drops, so they will be labeled "No Sugar Added" instead of "Sugar-Free." Our initial line will consist of those brownies and cookies, plus sugar-free vanilla ice-box cheesecake, chocolate truffle cheesecake, chocolate ganache-covered peanut butter mousse bars (all three of which have a puffed rice chocolate crunch crust testers cannot get enough of) and various flavored scones.

In other words, better to use already existing high quality chocolate for desserts instead of trying to re-invent the wheel on bars, IMHO, at least for now. There are a few natural sweeteners coming on the market in the next few years that might make me rethink this.

SugarFree

Thomas - there are a number of producers of evaporated organic cane juice in crystals. Paraguay and Brazil are big producers (and Brazil is cheaper). Wholesome Sweeteners can get it to you by the ton (nothing smaller) but you can call them and find a local distributor who can sell it to you by the 40-50lb bag. I last bought through Ace Naturals in Queens, though they don't deliver to where you are in N Jersey. Shouldn't be too hard to find through natural food distributor or bakery supply company.

Thank you, after doing some searching on the web, I have learned something new. One company claims their cactus honey is made from bee's honey.

HI Thomas,

apparently what they call cactus "honey" is nothing else that crystallized agave syrup! It look like there is no bees involved into making "honey"=disinformation and using the word "honey" as marketing tool... i have found a couple of website that explain this in details.

i think the use of maltodextrin is for keeping it "dry" ( i have used in the past tapioca maltodextrin to turn olive oil into powder...)

I notice that from the list i made, except for the "Lakanto" (where to fid it?), it all goes back to Agave/cactus plants.

South Africa (where i live) is a big producer of agave syrup and powder, and the farming area is just about 2 hours drive from Cape Town. I'm actually in touch with a producer and i should ask them if i could visit the plantation and maybe have a talk with their lab-test people to clarify the myth of agave...

This has pure honey and maltodextrin listed has it's only ingredients. The company is Arizona Farm, cactus honey powder. I wish it was 100% honey.

Hi Thomas,

i did some research not long time ago onhoney powder and it did look like that only 30% is actual honey and the rest is simply sugar (saccarose) so i gave up on using honey to make solid bars (although honey will be the best "sugar free" product! natural and depend on the flowers and area we could have an infinite number of combinations!).

Could you please check how is your honey powder made?

thanks!

I have found honey powder at Korean supermarkets in north New Jersey. I made a couple of batches of 75% and it turned out very nice. Can you get evaporated cane juice in powder or crystal form? I see this used on many vegan and other products sold at health food stores.

Try to frame it in terms of glycemic index - there should be plenty of charts on the internet that already exist - it's a way to assign , essentially, a number that measure 'how sugar like is xxx'. The lower the GI, the more diabetic friendly, generally speaking.

Hi Antonino,

Another possibility is Lakanto. I tried a sample recently and it tastes a lot like cane sugar, bulk-wise is equal when replacing refined sugar in a recipe.

Is Lakanto the miracle low GI sweetener of the century?

( source )

scary indeed. I just don't understand how something like this can get FDA approved.Good luck antonio!i'd love to know what you will settle for eventually.

happy cooking

As you said in your 3rd paragraph, real sugar is best... in moderation. I personally steer clear of "chemicals" for the very reason that Omar mentions.

Blech!

Whoa! Now THAT'S scary! I had no idea!

Hi Omar,

a pesticide? really?!? hmmm maybe a good marketing tool: Eat this chocolate, not only is sugar free but also kill all the bacteria inside out! aha ha ahah just kidding, but i'm now curious!

So far we have:

Agave sugar (hi fructose)

Stevia (no calories but needs bulking fibers)

Erythritol and Maltitol (alchool sugar)

Splenda (sucralose/pesticide...)

Coconut sugar

Add on if you have ideas!

Eventho we use maltitol here, I couldnt agree more with Andy. Moderation is the key.

Antonio, before doing tests with Splenda, did you know that the scientists who invented Splenda, were originally working on creating apesticide? Someone was mad enough to tasteit, andhere's the result...

Hi Ernesto,

will have a look of what kind of coconut sugar i can get here in South Africa. In theory i shouldn't need to change much of a recipe if the coconut sugar has a similar structure.

thanks a lot!

Hi Antonino,

Have you tried coconut sugar? Its from granulated coconut nectare it is LOW GI about 35. I have tried using it in 70/30, 60/40 and 50/50 chocolates and they taste superb almost like cane sugar.

Hi Andy,

thank you, what you say is what i actually think about the issue.... Still it is funny and interesting to do research!

i will keep posted!

Next try will be with Splenda.

We gave up at this point. It's cost prohibitive and taste prohibitive. Most alternate sugar chocolates taste like fake chocolate. Then you'll find that even though it's requested you're not going to sell a lot and you might have more of a waste cost than not. We try to preach to the sugar free requestors that moderation is the key. Just don't eat our food like junk food, test your insulin levels and behave. Young diabetics know this, older ones just want to over-indulge. Interesting behavioral stuff.

Wish you well on your search, at some point we'll have a diabetic artisanal chocolate maker that will solve this for all time.

Hi just an update on research,

and i make a point sayng that i am not a food scientist but just a chocolate maker that i very very curios!

Stevia chocolate is recently available on the market, with percentage between 55% and 80% something.

Stevia is 300 time sweeter than sugar and has not the same effect to chocolate as saccarose (sugar).

To "make up" for the missing sugary part, dietar fibers like inulin,dextrin, oligofructose (??) is added to ,in my word, to bulk up the bar.

Also Stevia alone wont make the chocolate sweet enough (and also costs a lot!) so another form of sugar substitute (sugar alchool?) such as Erythritol is added.

then of course there is the knowledge of how much of what!!

Now, as artisan chocolate maker is a lot to digest... i think Biiig Company have scientists and experts but im not giving up, i can get all those ingredient and play around, inviting a couple of food scientist for a glass of wine and after the second bottle hey should start to talk. eheheh....

Still, anyone any idea on sucralose (splenda) usage?

Hi All again,

anyone have tried "SPLENDA" (sucralose) on making chocolate?

Hi All,

we receive a lot of request of "sugar free" chocolate, most of them they refer to "use Agave syrup/crystals", but this is not what we think as "sugar free"!

Unfortunately here, miscommunication or false information make people believe that Agave "sugar" (!!!) is diabetic friendly...

We know that a 85%dark bar with sugar is better than a 55% dark made with agave, but it takes time to explainthatto every one!

Now, going to the point:

i'm capable of doing some research of real sugar free (sucrose) -chocolate maybe using stevia or other ingredients (Honey won't work). but i not really sure where to start..

Anyone any idea or suggestion?

Thanks in advance!

Antonino

Thank u so much Sebastian for ur prompt reply. really appreciate it. but iv seen some couverture chocolates of big brands being used to make as ganache or mousse. can we do that with HArald?

Thanx

For these, you just melt them and dip things in them, let them cool and they'll solidify. Next step: eat 8-) They're not really chocolate, they're coatings that are made to be easy to use. Originally, Harald's approach was to make low cost coatings that are easy to use to allow (very) small business owners a way to sell confectionery products. Over the last 10 years, they've grown the home use market, which is what these are.

IN what all ways can we use couverture chocolate?

I saw these two brands inthe market so would really appreciate ur tips and guidance.

Thanx a ton..

http://www.harald.com.br/produtos/Detalhes.aspx?ProdutoId=37

http://www.harald.com.br/produtos/Detalhes.aspx?ProdutoId=38&ProdutoTipoId=2

I attempted some myself, and while they looked OK, I'm not a photographer. I had a professional take mine. Even though he wasn't a food photographer, he has been doing it more because he works for the chef I work for.

Here are a few he did for me. He used a light box he had designed. While shine is good, I didn't want too much reflection on them, so his lighting was muted.

Check this great New York Times blog on food photography for some excellent tips. Not specific tochocolate, but should be helpful regardless. For the shininess you just have to have a super well tempered bar, preferably one that was just tempered within a day.

I shot in just natural light next to a window late in the afternoon when the sun was at a lower angle to get some interesting shadows.

I would like to create a menuof my chocolates that features a picture of each flavor as well as have pictures ofmy chocolateson the website. How have you photographed your chocolates? Did you do it yourself? Is special lighting needed so they look 3D & shiny? Did you hire a photographer? Do you use a food photographer? Any help or insight would be appreciated.

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I have received a number of emails from folks around the globe asking for further information about the table top foiler we once sold. It was a device - nothing more - that had a small pedestal and a brush cut to the shape of your small molded piece. The operator would take a pre-cut piece of foil, place it over the chocolate and then place both on the tiny pedestal and then pull the brush device down over the chocolate by hand. Once done the operator would remove the piece by hand and then smooth the sides and bottom. Quite time consuming and not very effective, We had offered this item for sale through someone who had built a few but it never really took off for obvious reasons so we are no longer offering them.

Foil wrapping by hand is laborious and, sadly, no one has ever produced a low cost, entry level full-fledged machine to do the work so the next best option is a used/rebuilt machine which we do offer but prices start in the mid $20K range and that is a major barrier to entry for most folks in early stage businesses.

Happy to discuss foil wrapping any time - jim@unionmachinery.com

Thanks

Jim Greenberg, President
Union Confectionery Machinery Company

Thanks Jim... I will be sending you a note as well for a quote.

We sell a small table-top foil wrapper for flat bottomed solid goods with very inexpensive tooling.

Please contact me jim@unionmachinery.com for a quote.

Jacqueline,

Thanks You!

This web site is the best.

Neal

Hi Neal-

I am currently buying it from Glerup Revere. If anyone knows of any other suppliers- please keep me in the loop as well.

Cheers,

Jacqueline

JACEK Chocolate Couture

Hi Jacqueline,

I do not have a machine solution for you but yoou may have a solution for me.

What is a good source for the paper backed foil?

Thanks,

Neal Brown

Mojo Chocolates

Hi Clay,

Thanks for your vigilance. Your chocolife pages really is a big help to us in understanding the industry and thus increasing our passion for it.

More power!

Ernesto