Gelatin art desserts can be made with artificial sweeteners, but there are a few things to consider.
First of all, the taste palate and preferences vary from person to person. You may have to do a bit of experimenting to find the right combination of sweeteners that works for you and your family.
Color base
The color base used to draw flowers and other shapes can be sweetened with almost any sweetener.
Milk, cream and vanilla have a pleasant taste even with just a little bit of sweetness.
The opaque texture of the color base can hide most ingredients and sweeteners that are not completely transparent as well.
Here is one recipe for a color base made with pure stevia powder.
If you find the taste of stevia bitter, you can use a different artificial sweetener in this recipe.
Clear gelatin
Making the clear jelly without sugar is more challenging. There are not that many ingredients in the clear part and the lack of sugar is more noticeable.
If you are avoiding sugar due to dietary preferences and not due to heath problems, we recommend to replace only the portion of sugar with artificial sweeteners.
The artificial sweetener used in the clear jelly must be completely transparent when dissolved to maintain the clarity of the dessert.
Sweeteners such as liquid stevia or some Splenda products work well in clear gelatin.
General guidelines
To hide the lack of sugar in the dessert, we recommend making lots of large flowers in your dessert. If you dessert is full of flowers, the taste of the color base will be prevalent and the lack of sugar won't be that noticeable.
Adding more citric acid and flavoring to clear gelatin will help elevate the taste as well.
Another way to improve a low-carb gelatin art dessert is to place it on top of a cake. A tasty cake with lots of ingredients will help make the gelatin seem sweeter and the tangy jelly will help brighten the cake.
There is a variety of sweeteners available on the market these days. The sweetness and density varies widely between them. The product package should show what amount of product should be used per 1 cup of liquid.
Even with those guidelines, you may have to try a few batches until you find the right amount to use.
Remember that gelatin can be re-heated and melted if needed. If you happen to make a particularly terrible batch and don't want to waste it, place it in a container with warm water and it will become liquid again. Make sure it is warm enough for all air bubbles to float to the surface and disappear. Add more sweetener to it and let it set again.
Please note that some artificial sweeteners cause digestive distress when used in large quantities. Please contact the manufacturer to determine the safe dose before using the product.
To learn more about Gelatin Art, visit our instructions page here.
To purchase high quality gelatin or our easy-to-use starter kit for beginners, visit our online store.
