Liquid Sweeteners

Agave Nectar & Palm syrup

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 2/3 cup of agave nectar and reduce the liquid in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: 90% fructose, 10% glucose
• Water: 25%
• Other ingredients: Some botanical products giving it flavor and a little nutritional value.
• This stuff is very sweet because it is mostly fructose.
• Agave nectar is agave cactus juice processed by heating to turn the carbohydrates into fructose.
• It isn't good for candy making because fructose caramalizes just above boiling temperature.
• Agave nectar tastes twice as sweet cold than it does hot.
  
• It is legal but uncommon to adulterate agave nectar with cheaper ingredients like High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Brown Rice Syrup (and other grain syrups), Maltose syrup

• Most grain syrups are also called maltose syrup.
  
• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 1 1/3 cup of brown rice syrup and reduce the liquid in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: 50% maltotriose, 45% maltose, 5% glucose
• Water: 25%
• Other ingredients: Some botanical products giving it flavor and a little nutritional value. White rice syrup has slightly less nutritional value.
• This stuff isn't very sweet because it is half maltinose.
• Rice syrup is cooked rice processed by enzymes to turn the starches into sugars.
• The shelf life is about 1 year.
• http://maltosesyrup.com/ is devoted to marketing this type of product.
  

Corn Syrup (glucose syrup, dextrose syrup)

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of corn syrup and reduce the liquid in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: 100% glucose
• Water: 25%
• Other ingredients: None. This is glucose in water.
• Corn syrup is cornstarch processed into glucose.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 3/4 cup of HFCS and reduce the liquid in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: 50% fructose, 50% glucose
• Water: 25%
• Other ingredients: None. This is sugar in water.
• This stuff is very sweet because it is half fructose.
• HFCS is corn syrup with some of the glucose processed into fructose to make it sweeter.
• Beverage makers use HFCS because it is the cheapest way to sweeten a cold drink.
  

Fruit juice concentrate

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 2/3 cup of fruit juice concentrate and reduce the liquid in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: Mostly fructose & glucose, with some sucrose and sorbitol (proportions depend on the fruit);  often half fructose.
• Water: 20%
• Other ingredients: Some botanical products giving it flavor and substantial nutritional value.
• This is fruit juice concentrated by boiling or other methods.
• Apple, pear, and white grape juice concentrate are commonly used as sweeteners.
• "Fruit drink" (fake fruit juice) is often sweetened by high fructose corn syrup because the combination of sugars is similar.
• Fruit juice concentrate can be a natural altrnative to invert sugar syrup.
• A solid form of fruit juice concentrate is date sugar.
  

Honey

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 3/4 cup of honey and reduce the liquid in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: Typically 50% fructose, 40% glucose, 10% maltose
• Water: 20%
• Other ingredients: Some botanical products giving it flavor and some nutritional value.
• It is illegal to adulterate honey with cheaper ingredients. Because honey is expensive and chemically similar to cheap high fructose corn syrup, it sometimes happens anyway. A sneaky way to do this is to set a plate of high fructose corn syrup near the hives.
  
• Honey is flower nectar concentrated by bees.

Invert sugar syrup

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of invert sugar syrup in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: 40% glucose, 40% fructose, 20% sucrose
• Invert sugar syrup is sucrose syrup with most of the sucrose processed into glucose and fructose.
• It won't crystalize, so it is handy for some types of candy making and other situations.
  

Malt Syrup & Malt Extract

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 1 1/2 cup of malt extract and reduce the liquid in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: 50% maltose, 45% maltotriose, 10% glucose
  
• Water: 20%
• Other ingredients: Some botanical products giving it flavor and some nutritional value.

Maple Syrup

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 3/4 cup of maple syrup and reduce the liquid in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: 60% sucrose, 20% fructose, 20% glucose
• Water: 20%
• Other ingredients: Some botanical products giving it a strong flavor and some nutritional value.
• Maple syrup is maple tree sap.
• It is both legal and common to adulterate maple syrup with cheaper ingredients like High Fructose Corn Syrup. Most maple syrup is really flavored High Fructose Corn Syrup. Anything called "pure maple syrup" is probably the real thing. Check the list of ingredients for composition.
• Birch syrup is similar to maple syrup, but more expensive to make.
  

Molasses (Treacle)

• Replace 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of molasses and reduce the liquid in your recipe.
• Sugar composition: 50% sucrose, 25% fructose, 25% glucose
• Water: 20%
• Other ingredients: Some botanical products giving it flavor and a little nutritional value.
• Molasses is processed & concentrated sugar cane juice.
  
• First molasses is lighter, sweeter and has less flavor.
• Second molasses is darker, has some nutritional value, but is not as sweet.
  
• Blackstrap (third or final) molasses is black, has a somewhat bitter taste, but has much more nutritional value. Many people don't like it.
• Modern molasses is a blend of first & second mollasses, and may contain other syrups as well.
• Golden syrup, cane syrup and sorghum syrup are similar to molasses. Sorghum syrup is mostly sucrose.