Pre Note
Many of these recipes will contain sugar, which is not banned from a diabetic’s diet. In fact a diabetic’s diet really shouldn’t be different to anyone who is eating a healthy diet with excercise. But despite that I still like to use sweetener wherever I can, and to this end the following advice is given for cooking with sweetener:
Cooking and baking
Experiment by reducing the sugar you add in your baking recipes. Most cakes eg sponge will work even if the sugar in the recipe is cut by a half. Recipes such as fruit cakes, fruit scones or tea breads can be made without added sugar. They do not require sugar for bulk and the dried fruit will provide sweetness.
There are many alternatives to the traditional butter cream, icing and jam so often used to fill and top cakes. Instead try adding fruits such as chopped mango and passion fruit to fromage frais.
Puddings and cakes are usually high in fat as well as sugar and should be limited as part of a healthy diet. If you make them regularly you may want to reduce the sugar as well as the fat content, but you don’t need to adapt your recipes if you only eat them on special occasions such as birthdays
Please note also that I am not a chef, am not qualified in the kitchen with the exception of earning a food hygiene certificate some years back. I am in rather sharing some recipes which are considered to be ‘healthy living / Diabetic friendly” in proportion.
Chocolate ‘n’ Orange cheats cheesecake
Ingredients
- 3 chocolate oaty biscuits, roughly crushed
- 100g/3 ½oz extra-light cream cheese
- 150g carton low-fat natural yogurt
- 1 large orange, segmented
- 2 teaspoons icing sugar or intense sweetener
- some grated chocolate or chocolate curls to decorate
Method
- Divide the crushed biscuits between 2 tall glasses.
- Mix together the cream cheese and the yogurt, and stir through the orange and icing sugar.
- Spoon over the biscuits then top with the chocolate. (If you don’t fancy orange, this is great with any fruit, either fresh or tinned in natural juice.)
Banana and Satsuma trifle
Ingredients
- 150g/5½oz Madeira cake, sliced
- 4 tablespoons orange liqueur or orange juice
- 2 sachets sugar-free orange jelly
- 4 satsumas or 2 oranges, peeled and sliced
- 2 bananas, sliced
- 1 x 425g tin ready made low-fat custard
- 1 x 200g carton virtually fat free fromage frais
- 8 tablespoons light crème fraîche
- To decorate:
- Fruit, eg Physalis, star fruit, fresh figs
Method
- Layer the cake slices in the base of a large serving dish. Sprinkle over the orange liqueur or orange juice.
- Make up the jellies according to the pack instructions, leave to cool.
- Layer the satsumas and the bananas over the trifle sponges. Pour over the jelly and leave to set.
- Mix together the custard, fromage frais and crème fraîche and spoon over the trifle. Decorate with the fruit and serve
Diabetic Rich fruit cake
Ingredients
* 85 g (3 oz) dried cranberries
* 85 g (3 oz) sultanas
* 85 g (3 oz) dried pears, chopped
* 85 g (3 oz) stoned prunes, chopped
* 85 g (3 oz) dried figs, chopped
* 85 g (3 oz) stoned dried dates, chopped
* 250 ml (8½ fl oz) apple juice
* 50 g (1¾ oz) pecan nuts, chopped
* 50 g (1¾ oz) candied ginger, chopped
* finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
* 5 tbsp sunflower oil
* 1 egg
* 75 g (2½ oz) molasses sugar
* 115 g (4 oz) self-raising white flour
* 115 g (4 oz) self-raising wholemeal flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 2 tsp ground mixed spice
* 3–4 tbsp semi-skimmed milk, as needed
Method
# Place all the dried fruit in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the apple juice, place over a moderate heat and bring slowly to the boil. Cover and simmer gently for 3–4 minutes or until the fruit begins to absorb the liquid.
# Remove the pan from the heat and leave, covered, until completely cold. Stir in the pecan nuts, ginger, and lemon zest and juice.
# Preheat the oven to 150ºC (300ºF, gas mark 2). Brush a 23 cm (9 in) ring tin with a little oil. In a bowl, beat together the sunflower oil, egg and sugar until smooth.
# Sift the white and wholemeal flours, baking powder and mixed spice into a large bowl, tipping in any bran in the sieve. Add the soaked fruit and the egg mixture, and stir well to combine thoroughly. Stir in enough milk to make a fairly soft mixture.
# Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake for 1¼ – 1½ hours or until risen, firm and golden brown, and just beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
# Leave the cake to cool in the tin for at least 1 hour before running a knife around the edge and turning it out. Wrap in greaseproof paper and foil, and store for 2–3 weeks before serving, to allow the flavours to mature.
# To decorate the cake, gently heat the jam with 1 tsp water, then press through a sieve. Brush the top of the cake with the jam. Arrange the cherries, nuts and candied ginger on top, pressing them gently into the jam. Finally, dust with sifted icing sugar.
Our rating: 4 yums out of 5
Raspberry thumbnails
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup margarine softened
- 1 large egg white
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
- cooking spray
- 3 tablespoons no sugar added raspberry fruit spread
Method
- Preheat over to 350°F/180c
- In a large bowl, cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add egg white and vanilla. Beat well.
- Stir in flour in 3 parts, stirring well each time until the flour is well-incorporated.
- Using your hands, form dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet that has been lightly coated with cooking spray.
- Using your thumb, press a hole in the center of each cookie.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden. Cool completely on wire racks.
- Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of the raspberry fruit spread into center of each cook
Sugarless cake
Ingredients
1/2 (half) mug of sunflower oil
450g tin of crushed pineapple or pineapple cubes in juice put through the blender (keep juice)
2 eggs beaten
500g mixed dried fruit
1 tea-spoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tea-spoon of mixed spice (I added 2 and half)
1 mug of self-raising flour
1 mug plain flour
Method
1) Preheat oven to 180 c
2) Place the oil and contents of pineapple tin in saucepan
3) Bring saucepan to boil and simmer for 10 minutes
4) Remove from heat and allow to cool
5) Add eggs and stir well
6) Fold in remaining ingredients
7) Spoon ino a greased and lined cake tin (I used two 1lb loaf ins)
8) Bake for about 1 hour until cooked properly (knife test)
Our rating: 5 yums out of 5
Apple and cinnamon cake
Ingredients
- 100g plain flour
- 1 heaped tbsp Splenda granulated sweetener
- 1 level tsp ground cinnamon
- 6g baking powder
- 3 eggs
- 3 level tbsp skimmed milk
- 75g lower fat spread, melted
- 1kg apples
- 1 knob of unsaturated margarine eg olive-oil or sunflower spread, for greasing
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas Mark 6).
- Sift the flour into a bowl.
- Add the Splenda granulated sweetener, baking powder and cinnamon into the flour and mix.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the eggs and the milk.
- Whisk and add in the melted butter.
- Peel and core the apples and remove the seeds.
- Cut them into large slices.
- Add the apple slices to the mixture and fold in gently.
- Grease a cake tin (around 23cm tin) with the knob of margarine.
- Pour the mixture into the tin.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
- Turn out onto to cooling rack.
- Leave to cool and serve
Sponge:
6 eggs, separated
14 tbsp Granulated Sweetener
2 tbsp hot water
150 g / 5 oz self-raising flour
1 tbsp baking powder
25 g / 1 oz cocoa powder,
Filling:
5 tbsp Kirsch
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp Granulated Sweetener
400 ml / 14 fl oz double cream,
500 g / 1 lb 2 oz fresh ripe cherries, stoned
15 g / ½ oz chocolate curls
Also required: For a 24 cm / 9½ inch spring clip tin
Serves 12
Method
Line the tin with greaseproof paper. Beat egg yolks, Granulated Sweetener and water together until light and fluffy.
Combine flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Whisk egg whites until stiff. First sieve the flour mixture and fold into the egg yolk cream, then stiffly beaten the egg whites and mix in 1-2 tbsp to soften the mixture. Finally carefully fold in the rest of the egg whites.
Turn the mixture into the tin and bake in preheated oven at 180ºC/ 350ºF/Gas 4 for 25-30 minutes. Cool.
Split sponge in half. Mix Kirsch, water and half Granulated Sweetener and pour over both pieces sponge.
Whip cream with remaining Granulated Sweetener until stiff.
Place sponge base onto serving plate. Cover with the cherries and spread over half the cream. Place the other layer of sponge on top, spread remaining cream over top and sides of cake. Decorate with chocolate curls.
More coming soon
These recipes are from a source of publications, websites, and friends. Thank – you to everyone whose recipe I have shared.
Confessions of a diabetic 