I tried making applesauce with zucchini - I peeled it and de-seeded it. Put it in a saucepan with water and brown sugar twin and cooked it slowly till it was the consistency of applesauce. It wasn't too bad, but it did have a bitter after taste. I'm hoping to find the S/F apple cider mix to use in the future, but was wondering if the brown sugar turns bitter with the heat.

Excellent idea and something good to eat with pork chops!

Yes, Brown Sugar Twin can be bitter unlike the white and it has nothing to do with the cooking.

You can put it in after the zucchini is cooked with little difference to the flavour. Try a combo of Splenda and Brown Twin, but use about half as much in total. You'll get a much better flavour.

Karen

I just made Mock Apple Crisp using zucchini and the SF apple cider mix and the zucchini was still bitter. In fact, I poured off the cider after an hour and put more water/mix in to remove some of the bitterness. I think it's from the zucchini itself, since I've had this problem with zucchini in the past. Anyone know a way to de-bitter it? The salt treatment like with eggplant and rinse well afterwards?

Try coring it and use the smallest, youngest zucchini you can find. If you're cooking it down for applesauce, grate it and squeeze the water out with your hands. Like eggplant, the bitterness is in the seeds, not the flesh.


Karen

Yeah, I did seed it and then cut it into chunks. Then cooked it for an hour in 3 cups water/ 1 SF cider envelope.. The zukes weren't huge, but they had been sitting on my counter for a while, perhaps that was it. It was a real pain cutting out the seeds till I started using a spoon.

I read somewhere that jicama might work better, so if I get the urge to experiment, I might try again with that.

A melon baller works well if you have one.

Try blanching the zucchini first then carrying on with the recipe. I have to confess that I've rarely come across a bitter zucchini.

Karen

You probably don't leave em sitting as long as I do! Blanching sounds like a good idea, thanks for the suggestion! Nikkil tasted the Mock Apple Crisp today and really liked it, despite the slight bitter aftertaste - says her kids will too! And she has zucchini growing at her place, so they'll be fresher when she tries the recipe.

I am going to try this I have been soo craving Apple crisp....We just bought the new spartens that have just arrived for our boys and my mouth was watering....But my sister has wonderful zuccinnis in her garden so I am making this next weekend. Thanks for posting about this I never would have thought to try it I have just discovered the forum and I love it

I wondered how you could make applesauce with
out apples. What creative ideas are here. I was
also thinking one could use the splenda sweetene
d apple flavored syrups from nture's flavors or Da
Vinci's for apple deserts. Thanks for all these gre
at ideas.

I would like to have this apple sauce recipe if you dont mind. I am new to LCarbing and I am very interested in trying new things.

Here you go.. good luck!

MOCK APPLE CRISP Makes 6 servings. 5 carbs per serving.
Ingredients:

16 oz diced zucchini approx. (see note)
3 cups sugar-free apple cider mix (1 pkt of the dry mix made with 3 cups water)
1 Tablespoon Splenda®
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/3 cup pecan meal (or coarse almond meal)
3/4 cup Splenda®
2 teaspoons Brown Sugar Twin® *
1 Tablespoon melted butter
2 teaspoons sugar free vanilla extract
cinnamon to taste

Combine zucchini and liquid (pre-made) cider mix in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until zucchini is translucent (about 1 hour) - at this point the zucchini will have taken on the taste of apples. (Zucchini have little of their own flavor and are willing to mimic other tastes with a bit of prodding. They will look and smell like them too!)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Remove from heat and place in well buttered baking dish. Mix 1 Tablespoon Splenda and xanthan gum and quickly and evenly stir into zucchini. In separate bowl, mix pecan meal and 3/4 cup Splenda. Add Brown Sugar Twin. Stir into melted butter and add extract. Spread over top of zucchini and sprinkle cinnamon as desired. Bake 15-20 min. or until top is brown and mixture is bubbly!

Note: Allow enough zucchini so that you can discard the center "seeded" parts - they keep the dish from mimicking apples. The best way to prepare the zucchini is to peel well, slice in half. Then stand each half on its flat end and cut downward to edge of seeded center, turning a quarter turn each time so you have four strips of zucchini flesh without seeds. Repeat for all zucchini and discard seed centers and peelings. Then dice zucchini flesh into cubes that look just like diced apples.

* Canadian Brown Sugar Twin tastes better than the American (saccharin) version.

Note: This dish is good both hot and cold (and you'll see it's different both ways) and is great served with a dollop of fresh whipped cream, a splash of cold liquid cream, or served next to a scoop of low-carb vanilla ice cream.
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Here is another one, using jicama:

Mock Stewed Cinnamon Apples (Jicama)
Serves: 4-6 depending on size
Prep Time: about 30 mins

Ingredients:
1 jicama
1 diet cream soda
2-3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 pkt diet apple cider mix
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 cup water
pinch salt

How to Prepare:
Peel jicama and slice into bite-sized pieces. Melt butter in skillet and add jicama slices and diet cream soda, cinnamon, lemon juice, and pinch of salt. Stir and let this cook down over low heat until most of moisture is evaporated. Add water and cook down again until thick. The jicama will not get as tender as apples, but you cannot tell difference in taste. You could use this as a side dish for a country-style meal, top with a sweetened crushed nut mixture and bake for a dessert, or serve with lc ice cream or pancakes. If using a medium jicama that makes about 3 cups when sliced, the whole recipe will be 24g carbs total. (51g carbs - 27g fiber)

Thank You So much. I'll be trying this today. I have a few friends that are also lo carbing and they asked me to try and make some mock apple sauce or crisp. I'll let you know how it comes out. I'm a newbie and still trying to become familiar with the different products for low carb.

Just thought of something...was the cider mix made with Splenda or aspartame?

Karen

Good call... I just saw your question and went to check. It's sweetened with aspartame! Is that what caused the bitterness, do you think? I have never heard of another SF apple cider mix out there.....

Bingo! I think the Low Carb Centre has one that's sweetened with Splenda. I comes in a tin.

Karen