On Thursday, July 30, 1998 1:16 PM, KLEPPE@execpc.com
[SMTP:KLEPPE@execpc.com] wrote:

David Homerick <dhomeric@jps.net> wrote:

Adding sugar can't make something sweeter than pure sugar, and pure sugar

isn't

disgusting at all. Saccharine is disgusting because it has a metallic

aftertaste.

Not disgusting, but there are quite a few people who don't care for
sweets. Kodachi being sickened was a result of the display of affection,
not the cookies.

Too much sugar would ruin the texture of the cookies, not the flavor.

Akane's

cookies would be sweeter than Kodachi's, but they would be flat, glassy,

and

brittle, more like a candy than a cookie.

Of course, Kodachi would know this and triple with the salt instead of the
sugar.  No one can stomach oversalted cookies.

That causes problems for the ending of the story, though. I'm not sure
that it would be believable to have Hinako like the oversalted cookies,
and even if it would, it would come off as a deus ex machina.

Any ideas on how to fix this? (Anybody?)

My initial thought was to substitiute saccharine or aspartame
(Nutrasweet).  Each of those is much sweeter than sugar (you use less of
each than you would use of sugar for the same sweetening effect).
Believe it or not, it is possible for something sweeter than sugar to be
too sweet.  ^_^   However, you can't really use those in baking because
they decompose in the heat.  The recipe would end up bitter instead of
sweet.  Supposedly there is some other artificial sweetener currently
being looked at by the USFDA which is many times sweeter than sugar
(sweeter than even aspartame) and is a derivative of sugar that doesn't
decompose in heat and so can be used for baking.  I don't remember the
name of it, but I think it's currently used in Europe though.   Another
option might be to substitute fructose.  Fructose is often used by
diabetics for recipes that require baking.  It's about twice as sweet as
sugar, and has a similar texture.  It also doesn't decompose in heat.
The only problem with fructose is that it absorbs water easily, even
from the atmosphere (it's a dessicant).  But that's something that
probably wouldn't be noticable if the fructose is only exposed for a
short time.

Hope I could help.

Jennifer

jcaliff@nsai-petro.com       http://www.topher.net/~jcaliff/iserlohn.htm

"One of the mammals' evolutionary advantages was that they bore their
young alive.  As research has conclusively shown, animals that bore
their young dead generally got nowhere."
  --  _Science Made Stupid_ by Tom Weller