Can agave nectar be used as a glazing agent?

[glovesforfoxes]

I'm thinking of using light agave nectar on shortcrust pastry, adding it about 10 minutes before the cooking is finished, will it glaze like honey?

Can I also use it to "honey"-glaze vegetables? If so, how thinly should I apply it, & how long should it be roasted for?

If it can't be used in this way, any suggestions as to what can be used instead will be so greatly appreciated that I'll send over a box of sprouts to whoever gives a good suggestion! :p

edit: Screw it, I'm getting hungry, gonna try it out on a small patch of shortcrust. If it works I'll post the method, if it doesn't I'll say so.

[mariana]

Let us know if it worked.

Not sure about agave, I think I've heard you can use molasses or brown rice syrup as glaze.

[glovesforfoxes]

Unfortunately I didn't do it yesterday; I made a full crusted pie (as in, encased in pastry instead of my usual way of just making a shortcrust top) which took absolutely ages for me to do properly (mostly because of my own incompetence) so by the time I'd done that, I was getting to the point where I didn't care about glazing the pastry!

It didn't even turn out that well! I think next time I'll roast the veg outside of the pie, make the top & let the pastry cook seperately then add them together with Veganomicon's mushroom gravy. Otherwise, the gravy soaks too much into the pastry, making it heavy & sticky on the inside of the pie while the outside is light & fluffy. Very weird. I did try letting shortcrust base & sides bake a little to harden them up (& prevent it from becoming soggy) but that didn't work :|

Anyway, I'll be roasting some more veg tonight most likely, so I definitely will try thinly glazing a carrot to see if it works :)

[veganese]

I usually mix 1 cup of white sugar with 1/2 cup of water, boil it until It becomes syruppy. I add some agave nectar (or Maple syrup, I have to try blackstrap molasses!) to the syrup to taste. Glaze the veg with it and put it in the oven as usual.

Enjoy! :thumbsup:

Note that some sugars do not become syruppy! white granulated works best for me!

[glovesforfoxes]

I tried it the other day & it worked, as in the food was edible. No significant taste difference, but that's not the point! I mixed it with the olive oil rather than brushing. I adapted the "Ginger Roasted Winter Vegetables" recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance.