How to Use Homegrown Stevia

There are a lot of ways how to use Stevia - whenever you need a sweetener.The plant you succeeded to grow in a pot is not the same, though,  that is used for commercial purposes. So you have to find out how sweet the leaves are, it may vary. I had published a blog on Stevia some years ago. But lately, I experimented some more.

Here is the previous blog with all the information on Stevia:
Stevia - More than a Sweetener

And here are some more tips and recipes.

Using fresh leaves

To sweeten a drink you may use the fresh leaves, preferably using hot water - in tea or coffee. You may have to double the amount than if you are using dries leaves. The benefit: the fresh leaves are easier to take out after they did the job. You will not necessarily need a strainer.
You may also use fresh leaves to make your own liquid Stevia: Brew a high concentrated tea, let steep for 10 minutes, strain and let cool. Keep refrigerated.

Using dried leaves

To dry herbs yourself, you may need a dehydrator, depending on the humidity in the air where you live. Place dried leaves in a bag and crumble. Use these in a strainer to sweeten tea and other beverages.

To use homegrown Stevia as a substitute for sugar in recipes, you will have to powder the dried leaves in a food processor.

As said before, you have to find out how sweet your homegrown Stevia is. As a substitute for sugar in cake, for example, I use just a third of the sugar stated in the recipe and 1 teaspoon powdered Stevia for each third of a cup. (1 cup sugar = 1/3 cup sugar plus 2 teaspoons Stevia)

In a cake you will need more volume. So the substitution works best in cakes like apple sauce cake or carrot cake. Making a chocolate cake, I even add some grated carrots - just for the volume.

Apple Sauce Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup (whole wheat) flower
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons powdered Stevia
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon

mix all dry ingredients and add
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 apple sauce.
bake at 350 degrees until pick comes out clean - about 30 to 45 min

Have fun experimenting using Stevia! For questions contact me!