Diabetic Toffee & Chocolate Cake

Last January I was asked by a friend if I could make a Ferrero Rocher chocolate cake for her daughter's 10th birthday. This year she asked me again to make a chocolate cake, but this time it would be a different kind of chocolate cake as her daughter was now a newly diagnosed diabetic.

I searched the Internet to see if I could find a cake that would be suitable that didn't just have sweeteners in it instead of sugar as they can often have an after taste.

I came across this one on Pinterest and thought it would be just the job. Instead of a buttercream frosting I decided to use my usual cream cheese frosting, but instead of adding chocolate spread to the cream cheese I added diabetic chocolate for the topping and diabetic toffee for the filling. The cake would also be suitable for those needing egg free and dairy free recipes (without my addition of the yoghurt and cream cheese frosting). 

Diabetic Toffee & Chocolate Cake

400g chopped dates

120g rolled oats, ground

6 ripe bananas

250ml rapeseed oil

100g cocoa powder

100g rye flour

150g plain flour

6 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

150g Greek yoghurt

• Place the chopped dates into a bowl and pour on boiling water until they are just covered - leave for an hour or so
• Blend the dates with the oats, bananas and oil until smooth
• Mix the cocoa powder with 200ml boiling water to form a smooth paste
• Beat the cocoa, flour, bicarbonate of soda and yoghurt into the blended dates, oats & banana
• Grease and line 2 x 8" cake tins (I actually used 3 so that we could have a sampler cake)
• Divide the mixture between the tins & smooth the tops
• Place in a preheated 160C oven for 50-60 minutes (cooking time will depend on the size of the tins used & the thickness of the batter), until a skewer comes out clean when inserted
• Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely

Frosting & Filling

300g full fat cream cheese

100g Thorntons diabetic vanilla toffee

75g Thorntons dark diabetic chocolate

• Add the toffee to a microwaveable bowl with 2 tbsp water
• Microwave on short bursts, stirring regularly, until the toffee has melted 
• Beat the toffee together with half of the cream cheese and sandwich between 2 sponges
• Add the chocolate to a microwaveable bowl and heat in short stirring regularly, until the chocolate has melted 
• Beat the chocolate together with the remaining half of the cream cheese and spread over the top of the cake

We really enjoyed our sample cake and it was delicious with a little of the toffee filling spread over it. Unfortunately we didn't get to try a slice of the birthday cake but I would be happy to make this again as all of my children liked it, especially with a little ice cream. Unfortunately the birthday girl wasn't as keen (but I'm not supposed to know that as she told my daughter not to tell me, shhhh). It's definitely not a cake for someone with a massive sweet tooth but for someone that needs to cut down on their sugar intake it is a very good compromise.

The texture of the cake is kind of like a brownie and quite nutty, and would be perfect with a spoonful of clotted cream!

Sugar Free Banana & Blueberry Muffins with Truvia

This week we seem to have rather a lot of bananas that need eating up. I've no idea why we have more left than usual but I don't think anyone is complaining as over-ripe bananas mean cake. I decided to use some Truvia, calorie free sugar replacement, that I'd been sent in these muffins, and no-one noticed any difference, polishing them off in under 24 hours.

Sugar Free Banana & Blueberry Muffins - makes 12

175g Self Raising Flour

25g Ground Almonds

1 tsp Baking Powder

25g Truvia (or 50g caster sugar)

200g Mashed Banana (2 medium bananas)

2 Eggs, beaten

75ml Sunflower Oil

150 ml Milk

100g Fresh or frozen Blueberries
Sprinkling of Cinnamon

• Mix the flour, almonds, baking powder & Truvia together
• Mix the banana, eggs, oil & milk together, stir in the blueberries
• Add the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients - do not over mix, it should be lumpy
• Divide mixture between muffin cases 
• Sprinkle the tops with a little cinnamon
• Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for 18-20 minutes
• Cool on a wire rack

I was sent some Truvia for use in my baking

Sugar Free Shortbread

These are tasty little treats suitable for diabetics or those trying to cut down on sugar - we just won't mention the butter.



Sugar Free Shortbread

120g softened butter
60g Total Sweet (sugar alternative)
180g Plain Flour

• Cream the butter & Total Sweet together
• Mix in the flour until it comes together
• Roll out onto a floured until approx 4-5mm thick
• Using cookie cutters cut biscuits from the dough & place on a greased baking tray
• Place in the freezer for approx 10 minutes
• Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for 10-12 minutes
• Cool on a wire rack

I was sent some Total Sweet to try out in my baking 

Sugar Free Strawberry Jam

Since the husband was diagnosed as a diabetic at the end of last year I've made him a few sugar free treats. I've recently discovered a great sugar substitute, Totally Sweet, which never had an after taste when I used it to make Raspberry muffins so I thought I'd give it a go in jam, so the husband would have something to put on his sugar free rice pudding, when I eventually get around to making some.

Sugar Free Strawberry Jam

200g Strawberries
200g Total Sweet (sugar alternative)

• Heat the strawberries & Total Sweet in a large pan until the Total Sweet has dissolved
• Turn up the heat & boil for around 30 minutes until the jam has reduced down & reached setting point*
• Pour into a sterilised jar and keep in the fridge until needed

* you can check that the jam has reached setting point by placing a plate in the freezer for approx 10 minutes and the spooning a small amount of the jam onto the plate. After a few seconds if the jam is still liquid then it needs boiling for longer - if it's a thick & sticky jam consistency then it's ready.

I was sent some Total Sweet to use in my baking and recipes

Sugar Free Raspberry Muffins

I felt a bit guilty after I'd made muffins with my husband's favourite chocolate so I thought I would make him something nice to make up for it. The very same day I received some Total Sweet* sugar alternative in the post so decided to give it a go in muffins.

Sugar Free Raspberry Muffins - Makes 10-12

175g Self Raising Flour

25g Ground Almonds

1 tsp Baking Powder

50g Total Sweet

150g Mashed Banana (2 small bananas)

2 Eggs, beaten

75ml Sunflower Oil

150 ml Milk

100g Frozen Raspberries

• Mix the flour, almonds, baking powder & Total Sweet together
• Mix the banana, eggs, oil & milk into the dry ingredients - do not over mix, it should be lumpy
• Break the raspberries up and stir gently into the mixture - just a couple of mixes
• Divide mixture between muffin cases 
• Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for 18-20 minutes
• Cool on a wire rack

The husband thought these were THE best muffins, and I must admit they do seem to be improving every time I make a batch. He now has a sweet treat that he can enjoy without worrying about having too much sugar. My regular muffins only have 50g of sugar in (per 12) anyway and considering your average low fat yoghurt has around 17g of sugar in, one of my muffins surely has to be better for you!

* some of the benefits of Total Sweet - low GI value, non artificial, aspartame free, suitable for diabetics, 40% less calories than sugar. Excessive consumption may have a laxative effect, especially in children, so eat sparingly

I was sent some Total Sweet to try out in my recipes

No Added Sugar Fruit & Nut Flapjacks

It seems as though lots of people are starting the new year off with a health kick, out with the cakes and puddings and in with the fruit smoothies and crispbread, and this household is no exception. Just before Christmas the husband was told that he's now diabetic, leaving me with a vacant position of chief taste tester (applications on the back of £50 notes please), and no urge to bake (hence the radio silence from my blog), I mean, a cake without sugar is, well, bread...and we have loaves of the stuff cramming every inch of the freezer.

I do like a challenge though, so my aim now is to come up with some healthy (ish) recipes that use little or no added sugar that are also tasty enough for the whole family to enjoy.

First up, flapjacks - they seem pretty healthy, what with all those oats, but they also contain quite a lot of butter and sugar. I've replaced the sugar with dried fruits and the butter with olive oil and thereby reducing the saturated fat significantly (13g in 100ml Olive oil versus 48g in 100g butter). I added a few peanuts to give them a crunch but you can leave these out or replace with another nut - we have an abundance of salted peanuts after Christmas!

No Added Sugar Fruit & Nut Flapjacks - makes 16

125g Dates

125g Dried Apricots

150ml boiling water

100ml Olive Oil

50g peanuts, chopped (I used salted peanuts & rinsed the salt off)

200g Porridge Oats

• Chop the dates & apricots and place in a bowl
• Pour the boiling water over, stir and cover and leave overnight.
• Blend the dates/apricots/water to a paste
• Heat the paste and olive oil in a pan until it comes together - approx 5 minutes, remove from heat
• Stir in the chopped peanuts and oats and stir well
• Press into a well greased 20cm x 20cm square pan - I use a sandwich bag over my hand for this
• Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for 18-20 minutes, until lightly browned
• Cut the flapjacks into squares and allow to cool fully in the tin before removing

I was quite impressed with how well these turned out, they didn't fall apart and are plenty sweet enough. Everyone, apart from Sam (who said they were 'too nutty') liked them too - even Jack, who took one bite, said he didn't like it and then later said he did and ate a whole one, claiming they were 'delicious'.