The Best Diabetic Cake Recipe - Is it possible?

[irridium]

My friend's 50th is coming up and I'm keen to surprise her with a really tasty, easy to make cake. I'm not really a dab hand at cakes, so it needs to be fairly straightforward. I'm not entirely convinced that a cake that's suitable for a diabetic ever exists. I don't have sugar alternatives or fancy flours, but hopefully there is a recipe that calls for "normal" ingredients. I have the store cupboard favourites. Can any of you wonderful bakers recommend one for me, please? I need to make it today. TIA.

Wheat flour is not OK for most diabetics. A gluten free cake like an almond and orange cake made with monkfruit should be OK.
https://ketohh.com/low-carb-orange-and-almond-cake/

Look at keto cake recipes. Unfortunately you are not going to be able to make a suitable cake with wheat flour and sugar.

You can skip buying "fancy flour" if you choose a cake based on cream rather than carbs, like tiramisu or cheesecake. But I'm afraid you'll still need to find a replacement for sugar as regular sugar's GI is too high.
Here's a easy tiramisu recipe that I could tolerate during my GD pregnancy:

• I used store- bought ladyfingers, but scraped off the iced sugar on the top
• Dipped them in black coffee. I didn't use amaretto as I was pregnant, but I found it's just as good and since alcohol contains sugar, skipping it is a easy way to reduce the sugar content.
• Then whisked egg whites with mascarpone, added sugar alternative and grated orange peel. Orange peel is an easy way to make it more tasty.
• Then just before serving, sprinkle cocoa powder on top of the tiramisu.

If you want to cook a diabetic friendly cheesecake, just replace the biscuits at the base with ground almonds and use citrus or berries rather than tropical fruits (and of course replace sugar with an alternative).

2 years after having GD, I'm still not sure what is the healthiest alternative to sugar. But for a one-off birthday cake, you can use agave syrup as it's relatively affordable and ready to find and didn't have a funny taste.

I believe that this is diabetic friendly
www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-30/magic-bean-cake/8900508

Is your friend Type 1 or Type 2?
I’m type 1 and I’m quite happy to have a smaller piece of ‘normal’ cake and adjust my insulin accordingly. I don’t do it every day but if it was my birthday I’d have a slice of cake.
I’ve always been disappointed with diabetic versions of food… sorry… not meaning to rain on your parade!
if your friend is type 2 ignore the above!
Very thoughtful of you either way.

It depends what type of diabetic she is and what she eats normally

Does she like sweet things, would she see that as a treat, or would she value something like a savoury thing like a low sugared chutney or a potted pate, home made, something like a mushroom or smoked fish thing?

What about slow cooked tomatoes in a kilner jar with oil and garlic, or some spiced fruits or spiced vegetables in fancy oil?

Same and and same. I’ve experimented and there’s nothing really that compares although if you look up MrsPsLowCarbKitchen on Instagram she might have a few ideas you can try that look pretty good. She’s Type 1 so hers aren’t BS full of hidden carbs.

I agree.. I would think a cake is an inappropriate gift for a diabetic but I don't know your friend.

Perhaps a watermelon "cake" with toppings such as nuts and cheese and seeds to slow down the absorption of sugar would be nice? You can google image watermelon cake for inspiration.

www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk/celebration-cake-recipes/

Not sure it’s actually the best idea but if shes a type 1 diabetic she may be happy to have a slice of ordinary birthday cake (without oodles of icing) and adjust her insulin accordingly.
If she’s a type 2 diabetic it’s probably best she tries to avoid cake altogether and you get her flowers or a book!

Agree that your diabetic friend might not like/want cake - though you know her best, of course.

I make these to go with black coffee when a diabetic friend calls round. They are not carb free, but really quite low in carbs.And you can only eat a very few at a time!

1. Melt some top quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa or more)
2. Stir in some flaked blanched almonds or chopped walnuts. You can add some finely grated lemon zest or orange zest if liked.
3. Put small spoonfuls into paper sweet cases or small paper cup-cake cases. They set very quickly.

An alternative would be to toast whole almonds, still with the brown skin on, dip them individually in the same sort of very dark chocolate as above and roll each one in good quality cocoa powder. Very rich, very bitter, very good.

Or you could dip fresh ripe cherries or strawberries in melted very dark chocolate, or do the same with fresh very thin peeled and pith-free orange slices (just cover half). If acceptable to your friend - some people with diabetes avoid alcohol - you could add a very few drops of 'dry' fruit alcohol such as kirsch to each fruit before dipping. Or vodka.

Or this raspberry mousse is fairly low-carb (the website says just 11 g per portion - about the same as a small apple)
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/raspberry-mousse

Whether she has type 1 or 2 diabetes makes a difference. My T1 DD doesn’t miss out on birthday cake, she just has the appropriate dose of insulin for it and ideally has it with a meal to slow down digestion.

Diabetes.org on baking with diabetes

Another diabetic family here (T1), we have cake but smaller portions. Don't use loads of butter icing / normal icing. What about a victoria sponge with cream and strawberries? Another fave is a meringue or pavlova (I don' t know the difference!) with loads of whipped cream and fruit. The last one we had was passion fruit and berries and it looked and tasted amazing!

Hi all,

Thanks for all your replies. I've decided to go on the first recipe that @Liveafr suggested as I needed to get to work on it soon. My friend is pre-diabetic and her husband is diabetic - both Type ll, I'm afraid. They have a sweet tooth so that's why I decided on making them something that they'll enjoy.

I'll make the tiramisu tomorrow with Stevia drops in the marscapone, whisked egg white and cream with the sponge fingers soaked in espresso in the bottom of the bowl and finished off with shaved dark chocolate on the top. It's something that I can make easily without it going wrong.

Ladyfingers are chock full of carbs even if you scrape off the sugar. At that point you may as well just make a proper cake - a few drops of Stevia won’t make any difference. A cheesecake or something is easier to make low carb.

Oh well, I've made it. I haven't tasted it myself, but my friends said it was lovely. I must admit, the cream topping is very thick and rich so I may have overdid that a bit. I'll do better next time. I have a whole bottle of Stevia to use up so will be looking at doing something Christmassy later.