George Shirley wrote:

> TammyM wrote:
> > I would like to make a fruit butter for my type II diabetic mother for
> > Christmas (and any other time she fancies it...) I'm wondering if anyone
> > has a recipe for, say, a gingered pear butter using Splenda, or some other
> > type of fruit butter? Can the Splenda just be substituted 1:1? I will
> > want to BWB these, if possible. The only preserving I've done in the past
> > is standard jams, nothing else.
>
> I make pear butter and pear sauce without any added sweetner. Check your
> pears to be sure they are sweet enough and just proceed per any standard
> recipe but don't add sugar. I use Splenda on some things but Splenda
> doesn't "protect" your product in a BWB like sugar does. If you're
> willing to keep it in the fridge go ahead.
> Splenda can be used like sugar up to two cups only and that's according
> to the box. Don't know what happens after that.
> Oh yeah, I'm a type II diabetic and have been one for ten years now. If
> your Mom takes the carbs in sweet things into consideration she can eat
> them in moderation, or at least I do and adjust my other carbs to
> balance it. Lots of good info on the web about this subject but my
> experiments with Splenda confirm what the company says about their product.
> George

I've found that the splenda butter doesn't keep as well after opening either. If
your fruit is very ripe, you might want to consider raising the pH some with 1/4
c. lemon juice or a couple Vit C tablets, crushed & dissolved in a little
water. I'd start with less splenda than sugar, and taste your way up. You
could also do the pear things, put in jars and freeze? No sugar means the color
may suffer too with all that simmering. It's that way with the strawberry jam
anyway. I've passed up splenda strawberry jam and make the No Sugar Needed
pectin with just a little sugar.
Edrena