Me v. Splenda: The Powdered Sugar Experiments

I have had significant success with Splenda as a sugar substitute when baking. However, I have not found a suitable substitute for powdered sugar. Why do I need powdered sugar? Aside from putting a fine dust on some baked goods, it is a vital ingredient in buttercream. In my worldview, buttercream is the quintessence of any cupcake. Without good buttercream, you may as well leave the oven off.

Generally, buttercream recipes call for an obscene amount of powdered sugar. We’re talking as much as 8 cups of the stuff. That’s a whole bag of it (as it is sold in my grocery stores anyway). That’s a LOT of sugar for a cup of butter to absorb, but it gives you a good texture and intense sweetness. I NEVER use that much. Generally speaking, for one cup of butter, I use probably 1.5 cups of powdered sugar. I err on the side of less, because I’m often adding another flavor element that will make things click. And frankly, it’s just disgusting to think about.

The real problem is that although I can make a cake that is sugar-free, I cannot make a complete cake or cupcake that is sugar-free because the frosting always has a lot of sugar. What to do, what to do. Surely there is something we can do to Splenda to make it work?

Experiment 1.0: Once upon a time in an interweb far far away, I read a suggestion for making powdered sugar substitute by combining 3/4 cup Splenda with 2 T cornstarch. For this first experiment, I made some of this combination, and added it to the butter. The result was a chewy, gooey, bland mess. I could not get this stuff in the trash fast enough.

Experiment 2.0: After discussing the failure of experiment 1.0 with friends, it was suggested that I try putting Splenda in a blender or food processor to see if I could grind it down to a soft, powdery state. I put a couple cups of Splenda granulated in a blender and let it go on a high speed for a few minute. The result seemed to have the right texture, if a little dusty and aromatic (every surface in the kitchen acquired a fine layer of Splenda dust). I whipped up about half a cup of butter, a tsp of vanilla, then added about 1/2 cup of the fine Splenda. I let it go a few turns in the beater, tasted it and… gagged. It was disgusting. I felt like I had a horrible chemical burn on my tongue.

However, before I could throw it in the trash, the Monkey suggested we try adding some strong flavor to it.

Experiment 2.1: I added a little almond extract, since that’s notoriously common in bariatric recipes because it is a good disguise when food needs sweetness or a little kick. Unfortunately, the splash of almond extract did this mess no favors: it only intensified the chemical nightmare.

Ugh.

For now, I am still without a suitable substitute for powdered sugar. I am going to tackle other sugar substitutes in the near future, though, because damnit. There has to be a way, short of me going back to school, becoming a food scientist, getting hired by some major food company’s research department, and doing this the hard way.