Today I have made a plain vanilla sponge and sandwiched it together with diabetic strawberry jam. Nutritionally, the sugars are low which is great for any diet not just diabetics. In the recipe, I halved the amount of caster sugar used and this has made a great difference in the sugar content. The sponge did not taste as sweet which was a really nice change. When the sponge was baked the colour of the top of the cake was not as golden brown as standard cakes due to the lack of sugar in the recipe. The jam which I used is made by [amazon_textlink asin=’B001E976WQ’ text=’“Stute’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’02405893-1bc8-11e7-a47a-59e31d8f6e77′]” and is a rich fruity jam with just the right amount of tartness. The jam helped to mask the plainness of the sponge i.e., the lack of sweetness. No buttercream or decoration was added to the cake as this would have increased the sugar content.
One slice of this cake contains 0.6 g of sugar and 31.7g carbohydrate. This is still over the recommended daily allowance which at present is 25g for women and 37g for men. Some care must be taken with the portion size when eating a cake which has been made with a diabetic diet in mind.
The proof is in the pudding as they say and the final verdict on this cake will not be heard until later when the family try a piece after their dinner. I will not be telling the children until after they have tried a piece of the cake what I have done to the recipe as it may put them off and I would like to see if they can tell me what they do and don’t like about it. I will get back to you on that one.
In conclusion, the children and husband enjoyed the cake. One of them piped up that the jam was runnier which I agree with. Another child asked why there was no buttercream in the cake and then she changed her mind and said she liked cake better without the buttercream in it. My husband enjoyed the cake but he did eat it with carnation milk but he commented on the fact that “I hadn’t burnt it or rather was it underdone”. When I explained that it was paler because of the lack of sugar in the cake he just accepted it and carried on eating.
On a lighter note my recipe books are available on Amazon as e-books for free at the moment for a limited period. Go and grab a copy while you can.
Today has been a trial and error day. I love messing about with recipes and I am always reducing the sugar used in a recipe or using a different ingredient altogether. This is the best part of baking and when the end result is one which the family enjoy it makes it all worthwhile. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. 🙂