I’ve been trying to cut down on sugar lately but I know that artificial sweeteners can do more harm than good, so I was delighted when Indigo Herbs asked if I’d like to try out some of their Organic Raw Agave Syrup (£4.49 for 250ml; £5.99 for 425ml).
A pure and natural sweetener, Agave is becoming increasingly popular as a healthy alternative to refined cane sugar or honey. The nectar is derived from the sap of the Agave plant, a spiny ‘succulent’ that grows up to 3.5m tall. Indigo Herbs Organic Agave Syrup is ‘raw’, meaning that it’s been produced under a low temperature with less filtering and it’s suitable for those on a raw food diet.
I really liked the packaging of Indigo Herbs Organic Raw Agave Syrup; the transparent bottle meant that I could see how much I was using and how much was left, while the squeezy design meant it was easy to use.
It was very sweet to taste, so I can definitely see why it’s so popular as a natural sweetener. The texture was light and silky – much thinner than regular syrup.
I enjoyed using the agave syrup as an alternative to sugar in porridge and on cereal for breakfast in the mornings.
I also had a go at making a sugar-free banana cake with Indigo Herbs Organic Raw Agave Syrup, using a recipe from the BBC Good Food website.
This took the form of a loaf cake, although I think the tin I used was a little too big; the mixture didn’t quite fill the tin enough and the cake was a little flat. The sponge was deliciously moist and sweet and I didn’t miss the sugar, while I could definitely taste the bananas without the flavour becoming overpowering.
You can find the recipe I used below. If you’d like to try out some of Indigo Herbs Organic Raw Agave Syrup for yourself, keep an eye on my blog because I’ll be running a giveaway later this week for one lucky reader to win a bottle! Follow me on Twitter or Facebook to be amongst the first to find out when the giveaway goes live!
If you enjoy baking with fruit, be sure to try out this lemon poke cake recipe!
Sugar-free banana cake
Ingredients
- 125 g self-raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 75 g raisins
- 50 g butter melted
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk
- 3 ripe bananas mashed
- drizzle agave syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C fan/ gas mark 4, and grease and line a 450g loaf/1lb tin with baking parchment.
- Place the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and raisins/sultanas into a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
- Put the butter, vanilla essence, egg, milk and mashed bananas into another bowl and whisk.
- Pour the ‘wet’ banana mixture into the ‘dry’ flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
- Carefully transfer the cake mixture into the tin and bake for 30 - 40 mins. To check if the cake is cooked, insert a skewer into the middle and see if it comes out clean.
- When the cooking time is up, remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins.
- Turn the cake out onto a flat surface and drizzle with Indigo Herbs Raw Agave Syrup to serve.
Indigo Herbs sent me a complimentary bottle of Organic Raw Agave Syrup for the purpose of this blog post. However, I was not obliged to publish a positive review and my feedback remains honest and unbiased.
Agave always reminds me mezcal 😀 That looks GOOD and sure to give me a high 😀
PhenoMenon
I’ve never tried Mezcal, what it’s like?
This sounds amazing!
// Paulina,
Thank you, it was lovely!
Love the squeezy tube as it means zero mess! Fab recipe for those following a raw diet x
Definitely, this was a big plus for me too 🙂
Oh wow that looks amazing – my kids and husband love banana bread – in fact if the weather is rubbish tomorrow I think a good banana bread recipe could be on the cards! H x
It is such a great comfort food, I must say!
I love the sound of this recipe. Agave is syrup is lovely but I feel I must point out that the recipe isn’t sugar free – agave syrup is sugar even if it is ‘raw’.
I got the recipe from the BBC Good Food website and it said it was sugar-free, but I did wonder about this. I know agave syrup is commonly regarded as an alternative to sugar, as it is more natural and has a lower GI value. I wouldn’t think of it as ‘sugar’ in the same sense as the sugar that lots of people use everyday; I guess it depends on how you want to define ‘sugar’.
I love indigo herbs..along with agave! It’s just so much more ‘raw’ and natural tasting..Like it’s ‘fresh’, sounds like a brilliant cake!
Thanks Amy, I love Indigo Herbs products too. I’ve previously tried their raw chocolate-making kit and it was great fun – and I loved eating the chocolates too 🙂
I am loving the sound of this recipe. Looks yummy x
Thank you, it was delicious!
This sounds nice! I have heard quite a bit recently about this being a better alternative to sugar good to find out a bit more
Thanks Tracey. I would definitely consider switching to using it. You can use it in hot drinks like tea and coffee too, so I’m sure I’d benefit a lot from it.
oh I first tried this when I was in Australia not my favourite cake but was nice non the less
Ooh lovely, I would love to visit Australia!
yum! i’d love to make this
It is delicious 🙂