Rapadura Sugar and Honey

Can you use this in the same way as refined sugar?  Can you use it to make jam? Can you use honey in making jam?

Hi Alison, I have never tried using honey.... interesting idea.

I'm sure you know this, but they taste very different than refined sugar, especially if your not use to them.  And they will make anything you use them in -taste very different-

Amount for amount you can swap rapadura for white sugar, but you may want to taste test your mix in case you decide to ease up on the darker sweetener in the beginning until you get used to the new taste combinations.  Or even go half 'n half in the beginning.

However honey is always it's own special deal.  So I would recommend you use a honey-jam recipe (Google it) and not try swapping it out on your own until you have some experience in this area under your belt.  Sorry I cannot add any personal experience in this case, let us know how it turns out.....


Article I have from Mother Earth News:

If you prepare jams and jellies with natural sweetening, you should remember that the moisture content of honey varies according to location. In California, for example, sweets made with honey from the northern part of the state will be softer than the same products made with the output of bees kept farther south.

I hope these recipes will be of value to readers who love sweets but want to avoid refined sugar. Enjoy!
PEAR AND CHERRY CONSERVE

2-1/2 to 3 pounds fully ripened Bartlett pears
6 lemon slices
3 Tbs. seedless golden raisins
1/4 cup maraschino cherries, chopped
1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice
4 cups mild-flavored honey
1 bottle liquid pectin

Peel, core and coarsely chop the pears. (There should be 5 cups.) Cut the lemon slices into eighths. In a 6—8-quart saucepan, mix together all the ingredients except the pectin. Bring them to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, and boil them hard for 5 minutes. (Give the mixture an occasional turn with a spoon to prevent scorching.) Remove the pan from the heat and at once blend in the liquid pectin. Skim off the foam with a metal spoon, and continue to stir and skim for 5 minutes to prevent the fruit from floating. Ladle the conserve into hot sterilized jars and seal the containers. This recipe makes about seven half-pint glasses.
HONEY PINEAPPLE JAM

2-1/2 cups (1-pound 4-1/2-ounce can) crushed pineapple
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
3-1/4 cups mild-flavored honey
1/2 bottle liquid pectin

What is Rapadura Sugar?

A quick answer    from my post on Nourishing Traditions style cooking:

Rapadura is the pure juice extracted from the sugar cane (using a press), which is then evaporated over low heats, whilst being stirred with paddles, then seive ground to produce a grainy sugar. It has not been cooked at high heats, and spun to change it into crystals, and the molasses has not been separated from the sugar.  It is produced organically, and does not contain chemicals or anti-caking agents.

[B]Rapadura is what I use in my Kombucha and natural sodas.  I use stevia our drinks, green stevia in some cooked recipes.  For baking I use dates, honey, agave and natural maple syrup.  Because Rapadura is dehydrated at a low heat, the vitamins and minerals have been retained, which is not true of most modern sugars.

There are similar products to Rapadura, such as Sucanat  (USA - a trade name), and Jaggery (India). Sucanat is different to Rapadura in that the sugar stream and the molasses stream are separated from each other during processing, then reblended to create a consistent product, whereas Rapadura is a wholefood product which can vary according to sugar cane variety, soil type and weather.

Muscavado, Turbinado, Demarara and 'Organic Raw Sugar' are all refined, though not as much as white sugar. They are the product of heating the cane juice until crystals form, then spinning it in a centrifuge so the crystals are separated from the syrupy juice (producing molasses). The crystals are then reunited with some of the molasses in artificial proportions. The molasses contains vitamins and minerals, and is recommended for a healthy diet, but the crystals themselves are pretty much 'empty carbs.'

'Raw' sugar is not really raw - it has been cooked, and a lot of the minerals and vitamins are gone. Still, it's better than refined sugar because it has a little of the molasses still clinging to it. Some sugar is sold as 'organic' raw sugar, and people think this means it's unrefined - all it really means is that it's grown with organic agricultural methods, then refined as usual... the juice (molasses) has been mostly removed, and there's not really much goodness in it.

A great website for recipes and info is http://gnowfglins.com/?s=sugar&submit=Search

Don't cook honey, you kill all the good things in it...

Whole cane sugar is the best, better than maple sirup for example, that has been cooked long.

But ALL sugars are addictive. And even when you use stevia, your body is supposed to react with insuline, mislead by the taste.
Also, no fruit juice even fresh, only whole fruits, to avoid the sugar peak and pancreas work.
sometimes you have to treat for parasites who are the ones begging for sugar! So it might not be a psychological need, haha!

I am completely off sugar except fruits and dry fruits like figs or raisins, and I eat bananas.
I eat coco powder with banana or with avocado, or with coco oil, a great spread!