I recently made a "Simple Apple Cake" that called for 2 cups of sugar which I thought was a lot. I cut it down to 1/4 cup and added some stevia powder for sweetening and the cake never rose. It also had 4 eggs and 3 tsp bp in it and lots of sliced apples. I'm thinking because I left out so much sugar that was why it failed to rise. The bp is fairly new. The recipe didn't give me much volume when I mixed it up so I'm thinking the sugar is critical? Any of you expert bakers out there have the answer? Thank you.

Geri

Sugar improves browning, gives bulk, AND flavor. In making jams and jellies, it is what reacts with the pectin to make the stuff gel. I'm all for stevia, but it is not interchangeable. In that apple cake recipe, the extra sugar was probably in there to caramelize, resulting in a caramel-apple flavor that stevia can't give you.

Were the apples particularly juicy? Some varieties are better for baking than others.

The apples were not particularly juicy. The recipe also called for 3/4 cup sugar mixed with cinnamon to sprinkle on the apple layers between the batter. That's another reason why I thought it was just too much sugar. I'm tempted to try again and follow the recipe exactly.

Geri

I haven't used Stevia, but I do use Splenda for baking without any problems.

i red somewhere that you should add corn starch to a recipe when you're using splenda - it's for the volume. don't know if it would have worked in a cake. it would for frosting.

I have a apple cake recipe that is always moist on the inside, but very good maybe it is suppost to be that way send the recipe I will try it and see

Here is the recipe I used from cooks.com. It is called Simple Apple Cake
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,176,149165-246202,00.html

A good apple cake......Box of Dry cake mix...a can of apple pie filling...3 eggs....Beat at medium speed until well blended. Place in greased 9 x 13 pan and top with sugar cinnamon mixture and bake at 350 for 45 to 55 minutes. Testing with toothpick for doneness. GOOOOD

Apple cake doesn't generally rise like normal cakes. It's usually a heavier cake because of the apples. I'm not familiar with using the stevia so I don't know if it works as well as Splenda in replacing sugar. There must be a place on the Stevia box where you can call or go on web to send a note to see if it can be replaced for sugar in a cake recipe and the recipe come out the same. Have to try trolleystation apple cake recipe, sounds good and easy. Good luck experimenting!

Sugar or Stevia neither would cause that problem. It might have been not enough baking powder. I find that it takes about 4 teaspoons to 2 cups of flour to make biscuits rise so I am thinking it should have been more. Also beating for 10 minutes will take some of the action out of the bp.
And yes, that is way too much sugar. I would have adjusted it to 1 cup total. For only 2 cups of flour 1 cup of sugar would have been sufficient. Also the recipe uses yogurt. In that case I would have used 1 teaspoon of baking soda so the reaction would be more lift. I would have added the baking soda toward the end of mixing just enough to incorporate it.