If you want to make your own no-calorie syrup that flows like the ones from the supermarket, you can’t do it with cornstarch or fruit pectin. They do a great job of thickening jams and puddings, but produce syrups with the texture of a thin pudding. Not exactly what you want for pancakes. Pancake syrup should be about the viscosity of motor oil.
Until a couple of years ago there was no sugar-free syrup. Sugar was the magic ingredient that made liquids thick and stretchy. Artificial sweeteners didn’t cut it. Then, about a year ago, calorie-free syrups started showing up on grocery store shelves with cellulose gum on the labels right after flavorings.
If you study the ingredient list, you’ll quickly realize that all you need to make your own calorie-free syrup is water, sweetener, flavoring, and thickener. The water must be pure, the artificial sweetener, the optional flavoring and use cellulose gum as a thickener. Mix them all together in a blender and you’ve got a bottle of delicious syrup that looks, tastes, and flows like Aunt Jemima’s, but without the slightest trace of calories.
But is cellulose gum safe for human consumption? As a one-time PR consultant for a Canadian pulp company that made toilet paper, I wondered about it myself and started asking questions.
A large importer of cellulose gum, also known as carboxymethylcellulose, also known as CMC, noted that the gum is a physiologically inert, water-soluble plant fiber that exceeds FDA standards for use in food and pharmaceuticals. It is tasteless, colorless, harmless, and nutritionally neutral, and is widely used in countless products, including textiles, paints, ceramics, pesticides, wallpaper paste, envelope sealers, charcoal briquettes, and fire bricks. And, of course, food, medicine and cosmetics.
Most importantly, for anyone who wants to make their own calorie-free syrups, cellulose gum makes it easy to vary the viscosity of your syrup from maple-thin syrup to thick honey. For the home mechanic, think SAE motor oil grades 10, 20, 30, etc. This viscous versatility makes cellulose gum ideal for homemade zero-calorie syrups, ice cream, puddings, powdered drinks, and even soy sausages.
The problem is that cellulose gum is generally not available as a retail product and is only available in bulk to high volume buyers. Because I am an author and discuss cellulose gum in my new book, The No Diet Diet, a CMC importer agreed to sell me a fifty pound ‘small’ bag, enough to make 6,500 sixteen ounce bottles of syrups. So I have plenty in my pantry and will happily give a free sample to anyone who sends me a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
When you get your gum, put 12 ounces of clean, cold water into your blender or mixer and turn it on, to grind slowly. Add a cup of Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, a teaspoon of orange flavoring, and a drop of red food coloring. Remove the glass port from the cover if there is one; otherwise, remove the cap. Drop a teaspoon of cellulose gum very, very, slowly into the whipped liquid. When all the powder has been added, allow the mixing to continue for another 30 seconds. The syrup should be quite thick by then. Pour into a tabletop syrup container.
Celogen syrups are so quick and easy to make that you may find yourself experimenting with flavors. Some of them will be so good that you will want to do a lot of them. However, don’t do too much at once. If you do, you’ll end up with a refrigerator filled with so much syrup that you’ll have to open a retail store to get rid of it. It’s best to make a small fresh batch every morning or two. The entire process takes less than two minutes and you can taste fresh and new before you even have to flip the pancakes.
Cellogen is also great for fruit purees, puddings, parfaits, powdered instant drinks and anything else that tastes a bit watery and needs a little extra body. A couple of good examples are hot chocolate made with skim milk instead of whole milk or cream, and fresh crushed strawberries sweetened with artificial sweetener. Cellogen makes them rich in texture without adding calories.
So there you have it. The secrets to making your own zero-calorie syrup that flows just like the ones in the supermarket, with very little cost, effort, or time.