I first learned about agave nectar during my tequila making and tasting tour in Cozumel, Mexico. The nectar derived from the Agave Tequilana plant is used to make tequila and it tastes very similar to honey. I brought a bottle of agave nectar back with me and I have been using as a healthier replacement for honey in a lot of my cooking.
To be honest, Xagave is a brand of agave nectar that I wasn't familiar with. From its bottle, I learned that Xagave is a brand of agave that blends blue and white agave for a high inulin content. Inulin is a water-soluble dietary fiber found in more than 3,500 fruits and vegetables and is particularly concentrated in blue agave.
I was excited that they also sent me a cookbook to find different ways to use Xagave. I perused the Delicious Meets Nutritious cookbook and found recipes for appetizers, entrees, desserts and even cocktails. But when the fall crisp air hit last week, I knew which recipe I would try out!
On Saturday, I had plenty of time to try out this pumpkin bread recipe and I found that it was really easy. First, I pre-heated the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, I mixed the wet ingredients (1 can of pumpkin puree, 1 1/2 cups Xagave, 1/2 vegetable oil, 2/3 cup water, and 4 eggs).
I then combined the dry ingredients (3 1/2 cups of pastry flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ginger). The recipe called for whole wheat pastry flour but I ended up using just regular organic pastry flour that I had in my pantry. I don't use pastry flour that often and I couldn't justify purchasing another bag of pastry flour. I also altered the recipe by adding a 1/2 tsp of cloves, which I always like to add to my pumpkin bread.
I slowly added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mixed it with a hand mixer until it was all moistened.
I put the batter in one greased loaf pan and put in the oven for sixty minutes. I put the rest of the batter in a mini brownie pan to make pumpkin bread squares and put that in the oven for about forty minutes. The pumpkin bread squares were done after forty minutes, but the loaf pan needed another five minutes.
The pumpkin bread was really delicious. The bread tasted less sweet than previous pumpkin breads that I've made with other recipes but in a way, it was a good thing as I really tasted the flavor of the pumpkin and all the great fall spices.
I'm definitely going to keep Xagave in mind as a easy substitute for sugar. The cookbook recommends 1/2 cup of Xagave for each cup of sugar for cooking and 2/3 cup of Xagave for each cup of sugar for baking.
Thanks to the folks at BetterBody Foods & Nutrition for letting me test this product out.
What small substitutions do you make to cut calories where you can?
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