Sugar
Sugar is used in ice cream recipes primarily as a sweetener but is
also plays an important role in producing the right texture. This
is because sugar actually lowers the freezing point so logically, the more
sugar you use the softer the ice cream will be.
The best sugar to use to use is pure cane sugar as
this affects the taste and texture least. Other sugars can work well in
terms of flavor and in fact I prefer to make vanilla ice cream with caster
sugar as I find the taste and softer texture more palatable.
You can also
use brown sugar (my crunchy pecan nut and maple syrup recipe
positively demands it as does my creme brulee flavor!) and there’s also honey or maple syrup you
can try. I do not use artificial sweeteners in any ice cream making as I find the taste and texture not as good as with regular sugar.
Read about other sweeteners you can use as an alternative to sugar in your ice cream making and I also have a page about
how to make sugar free ice cream.