From the 12th to 18th June it’s Diabetes Week and as my husband is diabetic, what better excuse then to look at a few recipes that I do for him. He has a very sweet tooth;
it was very hard when he was diagnosed 10 years ago as Type 2 Diabetes. At first we struggled with a lot of foods that we never knew had so much sugar, including bread, baked beans and Alcohol! Another shock was many Chinese sauces are high in sugar, as are lots of ‘healthy low fat’ items. Things have got better in recent years and Spain is particularly good with a very good sugar-free range of food items. With trial and error I have discovered that I can find lots of things with Fructose or powdered sweetener, but my biggest success to date has been making my mincemeat at Christmas so my husband gets his sugar-free mincemeat tarts and Christmas pudding! That’s now a family secret, but I have added some other favourites below for you to try.
Buen Apetito
Oatcakes
200g oats
25g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
50g butter
4 tbsp boiling water
Heat oven to 180ºC. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Stir in the butter and enough boiling water to mix to firm dough. Sprinkle spare oats on the work surface and roll the dough to about 3mm thickness. Cut into rounds of about 6cm and arrange on a non-stick baking tray and bake for about 20 minutes.
Lemon Drop Scones
115g whole meal flour
1 tsp baking of powder
¼ tsp salt
25g fructose
1 egg
2 lemons
6 tbsp skimmed milk
15g butter
In the bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the butter, fructose and beaten egg. Grate the rind from the lemons and squeeze the juice into the mixture. Add some milk a bit at a time until it makes a thick batter. Finally add the rind to the mixture. Cook on a griddle or grease a tray and heat tray in the oven until really hot and then drop the mixture in spoonfuls and cook in oven at 220ºC immediately. Drop scones are best eaten hot, but can also be eaten cold with butter.
Moist Gingerbread
225g stewed pear and apple
300ml skimmed milk
2 tsp lemon juice
115g butter
4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
350g wholemeal flour
50g sultanas
2tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp boiling water
25g flaked almonds
Heat oven to 180ºC and grease a square cake tin. Place the stewed pear and apple, skimmed milk, lemon juice, butter and spices in a saucepan and heat gently until melted. Mix together the flour and sultanas in a large bowl. Mix together the bicarbonate of soda and boiling water in a jug and slowly add to the flour mixture and then add the milk mixture from the saucepan. Mix well until an even mixture and pour into the prepared tin. Sprinkle with almonds and bake for 45 minutes until risen and firm to the touch.
Carrot and Nut Sponge Cake
115g shelled hazelnuts or almonds or a mixture of both
25g desiccated coconut
3 eggs
75g fructose
150g carrots
25g whole meal flour
½ tsp baking powder
Grated rind of lemon or orange
Heat the oven 180ºC and grease a 18cm round cake tin. Place the nuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden. Add the coconut after 5 minutes and toast with the nuts. Grind the mixture in a food processor or rotary grater. Split the eggs and whisk the egg yolks with 2/3rd of the fructose in a bowl until pale and thick. Stir in the ground nuts, grated carrots, flour, baking powder and lemon rinds. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with the remaining fructose and then fold into the cake mixture and spoon into the cake tin. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until firm to the touch.
Carrot, Honey and Raisin Cake
3 carrots
125g self raising flour
125g wholemeal self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
25g fructose
85g clear honey
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
125ml sunflower oil
85g raisins
2-3 tbsp milk
Peel and grate carrots. Place the flours, baking powder, cinnamon and fructose in a bowl and mix. Add honey, eggs, vanilla and oil in a separate bowl and mix together then add to the flour mixture stirring well. Stir in carrot and raisins, then add a little milk until mixture is soft consistency. Spoon mixture into a cake tin and bake for 1 hour in oven 170ºC.
