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Do you have questions about being vegan? Send them
to Jo using this easy form.
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as well as general inquiries about vegan ethics, philosophy,
practical applications, and living compassionately.
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Satisfying
a Vegan Sweet Tooth
I
know that a vegan does not consume honey, but how about
syrup or maple syrup? Are they suitable for a vegan?
You are correct that vegans do not consume
honey. Avoiding honey was part of the original 1944
manifesto of The Vegan Society in England and has always
been the position of the American Vegan Society since
its founding in 1960. Fortunately, there are many other
syrups which vegans can use instead. Below are some
of these options:
- Brown Rice Syrup:
- A subtle sweetener made by combining
cooked brown rice with dried sprouted barley and culturing
the mixture until malt enzymes convert some of the
rice starch into glucose and maltose.
- Concentrated Fruit Juice Syrups:
- Fruit juice that has been refined
to remove fiber and impurities, and boiled into a
syrup.
- Corn Syrup:
- An inexpensive, thick syrup made
from chemically refined cornstarch.
- Frozen Fruit Juice Concentrates:
- Fruit juice that has been refined
to remove fiber and impurities along with approximately
two-thirds of the water content.
- FruitSource (liquid):
- A brand name product made from grape
juice concentrate and whole rice syrup, with a taste
and consistency similar to honey. Also available granulated.
- Malt Syrup:
- A thick, sticky sweetener extracted
from roasted, sprouted whole barley, rye or wheat.
It has a light molasses flavor and is about half as
sweet as white sugar.
- Maple Syrup:
- A highly flavorful and concentrated
sweetener as it takes about 30 to 40 gallons of sap
to produce one gallon of syrup. Be sure to purchase
only "pure" maple syrup. "Maple flavored syrup" consists
primarily of sugar or corn syrup and usually contains
artificial coloring and flavoring.
At one time, maple syrup producers
routinely added a small amount of lard, an animal
fat, during processing to minimize foaming. In recent
years, this practice has been eliminated by nearly
all maple syrup companies. Instead, a small quantity
of vegetable oil is typically used. If you have a
concern and want to verify how your maple syrup was
made, contact the producer directly. You can also
check the label for a "kosher" marking. Kosher maple
syrup is not processed with lard.
Molasses:
The thick, dark syrup that remains
after sugar crystals are removed during cane sugar
refinement.
Sorghum Syrup:
Made from the stalks of a cereal
grain related to millet.
Your natural food store should carry
most of these as well as other commercial sweeteners.
Experiment with them to see which ones have the flavors
your most prefer. You may wish to invest initially in
small quantities of several different sweeteners and
try them in various recipes before purchasing larger
amounts.
Following are some tips for using alternative
liquid sweeteners:
To
replace white sugar with a liquid sweetener, reduce
the total amount of other liquid ingredients in the
recipe by about 1/4 cup for each cup of liquid sweetener
used.
To
liquify liquid sweetener that has crystallized, place
the jar in a pan of hot water for several minutes.
To
accurately measure liquid sweeteners and keep them from
sticking to the measuring utensil, first rub some oil
in your measuring cup or spoon.
Substitute
the following for the sweetening power of 1 cup white
sugar. Some experimenting may be necessary to achieve
the desired results.
- barley malt: 1 to 1 1/3 cups
- brown rice syrup: 1 to 1 1/3 cups
- corn syrup: 2 cups (don't substitute
it for more than half the sugar called for)
- maple syrup: 1/2 to 3/4 cup
- molasses: 1/2 cup
- sorghum syrup: 1/2 cup
Copyright © 1998-2009 by Jo Stepaniak
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