Makes 12 slices or cupcakes
Each slice of cake/cupcake with frosting will have 9g carbs
This recipe is a fresh and summery treat to take on a picnic or as part of an afternoon tea with insulin.
This recipe uses xylitol instead of sugar. Xylitol is a carbohydrate known as a ‘sugar alcohol’ usually processed from natural plant sources. However, xylitol is poorly absorbed by the digestive system and acts as soluble fibre. Because of this, it has a low GI and does not ‘spike’ blood glucose. When you carb count, just count half the amount of xylitol used (see recipe below). If you have never baked using xylitol before, you use it the same as you would sugar. It can be found in most of the major supermarkets. When you add fruit to your recipes, it also acts as a natural sweetener - just don’t forget to carb count it!
If too much xylitol is consumed, it may cause some bloating or a laxative effect. As with all new foods, it’s good for you to understand how it affects your blood glucose. So, if you try this recipe, we would recommend you to test your BG 2 hrs after eating.
Ingredients:
(carbs shown in bold)
- 50g SR flour (40g)
- 150g ground almonds (10g but we don’t need to count nuts)
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 100g spread/butter (0g)
- 80g xylitol (40g)
- 150g blueberries (15g)
- 2 eggs (0g)
- Zest of 2 lemons (0g)
Total carbs 95g in the cake (40+40+15). 12 portions (either cupcake or slice of loaf cake) 95/12 = 8g carbs per cupcake/slice
Method:
1. Line a loaf tin or cupcake tin
2. Cream together the butter or spread and xylitol. Add the lemon zest.
3. Sieve the SR flour and bicarbonate of soda together into the butter mixture
4. Add the ground almonds
5. Beat the eggs together and add to the dry ingredients
6. Mix all the ingredients together. If the mixture is too dry, add a dash of milk to loosen
7. Fold in the blueberries gently
8. Either tip into a loaf tin or divide the mixture into the cupcake cases.
9. Bake at 180°C (Gas mark 4). About 10-15 mins for the cupcakes or 25 – 30 mins for the loaf cake. Test with a skewer, if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
You could replace the blueberries with raspberries or blackberries if you prefer.
If you want to add a frosting:
- 100g ricotta cheese (3g)
- 1 tablespoon xylitol (6g)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Blueberries to garnish
Total Carbs 9g for mixture (12 cupcakes/slices)
1. Mix the ricotta and xylitol together in a bowl
2. Fold in the lemon zest.
3. Pipe or spread the frosting on your cupcakes or cake
4. Add blueberries to decorate.
Total carbs in the frosting = 9g. For 12 cupcakes/slices of cake = 12/9 = 0.75g =
Adding this to the carbs in the actual cake = 8g + 0.75 = 8.75g