Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A
To Made it with love
Hi MIWL,
I thought I would ask you if you have a recipe for a diabetic cake? I read your blog a while back and left comments if you remember.
At that time I did not know it but my autistic daughter was soon to be diagnosed type 2. I thought seriously about giving up making and selling cakes as I thought it was cruel to her and she was not coping too well at the time.
My other daughter persuaded me to keep going and says we should try to perfect a recipe for diabetics. So back to the kitchen and having bought all the different types of sweeteners there are, we are going to experiment. So if you have a recipe we could try then so much the better…lol
Hi Jgibb
I don’t have a specific recipe for diabetics, I tend to reduce the sugar, use oil instead of butter and egg whites rather than the yolks which are full of fats, and still get reasonable results. As you can see in the blog, diabetics in general have to adhere to a strict regimen which is not just about sugar but about carbohydrates and fats too. There is no reason why your daughter can not have normal cake in small amounts. The blog also explains why you should not use sugar substitutes, they act as laxative if eaten in quantity and can have other health implications. Neither should you believe that rich fruit cake without egg or sugar is diabetic friendly. Dried fruits are full of heightened natural sugars and should be consumed in moderation.
I have found these sites for you to browse http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Food_and_recipes/Recipes/?gclid=CN26hP6R0bMCFebLtAodQBQAfA, http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=300016, http://www.sugarfreerecipes.co.uk/sugar-free-cakes-category.html, http://diabeticgourmet.com/.
These are just a few sites which I have looked at by googling sugar free cakes. You do have to be careful with everything and not just be concerned with the sugar. It really is not a good idea to substitute with artificial sweeteners. There are many recipes online which bake with fruit. American sites in particular have apple sauce cake recipes where the sugar is replaced with unsweetened apple sauce. Bananas are also a good replacement. Experimenting with fruits, nuts and nut flour in baking is a good way to discover what works for you. I’ve got my hands full at the moment with cakes. As soon as I’ve finished I’ll experiment with you and perhaps we can come up with some results. I would advise that you also speak with your daughter’s GP to help you manage her condition within her complete medical requirements. I know from some of your previous posts that you have general concerns about E numbers and other additives in food. For this reason I would be inclined not to use the sweeteners in case they exacerbate or complicate your daughters condition. If I come across any other useful information I will post here.
Hi MIWL again, thank you for your kind and helpful reply. Please do not disturb what you are already doing, I would hate to put anyone out.
I have to admit that changing her routine or habits is difficult at best but to get her to stick to a strict regime is going to be very hard as no matter what I change she will eventually drift back or simply begin to dislike something. We have already had the psychological effects of her diet being changed, such as refusal to eat anything or feeling ill when trying to decide what she wants to eat and fear that if she does eat she will make her condition worse, (Sounds like I am moaning…she is a lovely girl, my constant companion in my older years and I love her to bits! )
Well so far we had already chosen to omit any artificial sweeteners. Next we tried Stevia, have yet to cook with it but various websites suggest it does not react the same as sugar. I have to admit it weighs very little and am unsure of amounts needed. More research there me thinks. My daughter does not like it in her cuppa (no surprises there !)
We bought some agave syrup, then read that it is the worst thing you can give a diabetic as there is hidden fructose in it that does not have to be included on the label!
She does not like fruit cake anyway and I have a job to make her eat any fresh fruit apart from bananas. People with the type of Autism she has have very defined and enhanced taste buds, (along with heightened senses such as hearing , smell, sight etc). However, she loves cake, chocolate is her favourite but any sponge goes down well…lol…we have been limiting amounts she has. Bit hard to do when she can smell it wafting round the house, so I have been getting up very early baking and getting it into the freezer as quick as I can. (she never gets up before 11am so that gives me plenty of time).
To further exasperate the situation there are only 2 veg she will eat, peas and broccoli and she detests onions in any way, shape or form ….lol I love a challenge !!
My other daughter made a reduced sugar carrot cake today that was beautiful, tomorrow we reduce the sugar even more and see what happens. I think carrots have a sweetness of their own.
Okay round 1 over am going to look at the websites you have so kindly taken the time to post for me. xx Will post back soon. Once again I cannot thank you enough for your time MIWL. x
