An ice cream recipe that needs that much sugar might be a caramel base - is that the case? If so, nothing replaces white sugar for caramel - no other sugars besides white will create liquid caramel.
Invert sugars such as agave, malt & brown rice syrup, honey, maple and date syrup are not equivalent by weight or volume to granulated white sugar, so should be used by taste rather than measure. Sometimes I'll use sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar - and it's very helpful in creating a smoother texture, but it has a distinct flavor that not everyone appreciates.
You could also choose a juice to boil and reduce - but if it is highly acidic, I recommend adding it to dairy when all liquids are chilled. Adding acidic ingredients to hot dairy can run the risk of curdling it. {Although you can sometimes save it by blending (upright blender or stick blender) it right away, passing it through a fine meshed sieve, and chilling it over an ice bath.}
I agree that sugar substitution is tricky with ice cream because different sugars lower the freezing point of water to different degrees, and if you use too much, it will never churn or freeze or set properly. Good luck!
Is this a recipe for a huge amount of ice cream? I make ice cream all the time and for 3 cups milk/cream I use only 1/2 cup sugar. 2 3/4 is a lot of sugar. That said you could use honey, agave, maple syrup. It really depends on the flavor you are making I guess.
I agree with Suzanne. 2 3/4 cups of sugar sounds like it would be for a boatload of ice cream. You can certainly sub honey, which I do often because I like its earthiness in ice cream. When doing so, use half as much honey as the amount of sugar called for in your recipe because it is significantly sweeter than sugar. In this case, use 1 1/3 cups of honey.
It depends really on how your pantry is stocked and what flavor ice cream you are making...some simple substitutions are the liquid sweetener group: honey, maple syrup, date syrup, reduced apple juice or apple syrup
There are food based sweeteners like apple sauce, pureed dates or mashed banana, or brown sugar...
Of course sweetening is not all that sugar does in ice cream, it helps with the texture or creaminess of the final frozen product by playing a role in ice crystal formation. Generally speaking it attracts water molecules and prevents the remaining loose water from forming large crystals this making a velvety smooth ice cream..using a substitute liquid sweetener may lead to different results but would still be yummy...the food ones may lead to icier texture...
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Invert sugars such as agave, malt & brown rice syrup, honey, maple and date syrup are not equivalent by weight or volume to granulated white sugar, so should be used by taste rather than measure. Sometimes I'll use sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar - and it's very helpful in creating a smoother texture, but it has a distinct flavor that not everyone appreciates.
You could also choose a juice to boil and reduce - but if it is highly acidic, I recommend adding it to dairy when all liquids are chilled. Adding acidic ingredients to hot dairy can run the risk of curdling it. {Although you can sometimes save it by blending (upright blender or stick blender) it right away, passing it through a fine meshed sieve, and chilling it over an ice bath.}
I agree that sugar substitution is tricky with ice cream because different sugars lower the freezing point of water to different degrees, and if you use too much, it will never churn or freeze or set properly. Good luck!
It depends really on how your pantry is stocked and what flavor ice cream you are making...some simple substitutions are the liquid sweetener group: honey, maple syrup, date syrup, reduced apple juice or apple syrup
There are food based sweeteners like apple sauce, pureed dates or mashed banana, or brown sugar...
Of course sweetening is not all that sugar does in ice cream, it helps with the texture or creaminess of the final frozen product by playing a role in ice crystal formation. Generally speaking it attracts water molecules and prevents the remaining loose water from forming large crystals this making a velvety smooth ice cream..using a substitute liquid sweetener may lead to different results but would still be yummy...the food ones may lead to icier texture...
MD