Molasses, maple and other dark sweeteners are making waves on fall menus alongside pumpkin spice, writes Datassential. The bitter notes of black treacle, burnt caramel, buckwheat honey and barley malt syrup all satisfy consumer cravings for more bitter flavors. While maple has long been a breakfast staple, in the past few years it has become a go-to fall flavor across the menu, often paired with other flavors. BBQ sauces to cocktails are calling out their use of blackstrap molasses or dark sorghum syrup. Other dark sweeteners include burnt caramel, dark honey varieties like buckwheat honey, dark agave syrup, barley malt syrup, and black treacle.
Source: plateonline.com
Lightbulb Moment: The Dark Sweeteners are a subset of the Sweet Browns which has been a trend for the past few years. The Sweet Browns include natural sweeteners like honey, brown sugar, molasses, maple, and raw sugar. The Dark Sweeteners then distinguish themselves with an added bitter note, a note that has appeared in other categories include the cocktail scene.