Why does Cooking Light use sugar instead of sugar substitutes?
Johnson: Sugar is a key ingredient in baking, providing structure and mass in many desserts. Consider a cake: If you substituted artificial sweetener for sugar, you would lose the volume that sugar contributes, and the cake batter would not have enough substance to become a cake. Also, the tastes and textures of sugar substitutes may change when they’re heated. Because sugar also acts as a tenderizer in baking, it can actually replace some of the fat in reduced-fat baked goods. Sugar substitutes don’t tenderize like sugar does.
