Your “Pancreas-Typical” friends may enjoy a big slab of gooey mudcake, topped with ice-cream and a warmed ganache, but for the diabetic the sudden removal of sweet treats is one of the unspoken traumas of diabetic diagnosis.  A diagnosis is a huge learning curve, a new language and a crash course in blood chemistry.  All the while, battling the sudden loss of an old friend – comfort foods.   Whether you’ve been dependent on high carb food for comfort, or you’ve just drawn the diabetic short straw, losing access to the carbs you’ve enjoyed feels like trauma.  For some, carb loading has been a key coping mechanism for life’s trials. 

Adjusting to a low carb life

First, if you’re an OK cook, your main meals shouldn’t be too problematic.  Noodles and pasta replacements have come a long way.  There are plenty of…. passable options on the market.  It’s sweets for diabetics that is the problem.  Wheat flour and sugar don’t just impact flavour, they impact the baking process.  

Diabetic Sweets 101

A new guide by Australian Seniors Magazine, Older and Wiser, provides insights into the challenges of diabetic baking and dessert making for the newly diagnosed helps you understand how each of the lower carb/no carb alternatives behave compared to sugar and flour, and how to cook with them for best results.  Because nobody wants to lose a toe or experience diabetic wounds. 

Solace Chocolate Mud Cake

There comes a moment in a newly diagnosed diabetic’s life where they realise “I’ll never eat my favourite thing again.”  It can feel like the loss of an old friend.  When that feeling hits, there is a “numpty proof” way to commiserate, that, eaten in  moderation shouldn’t be too hard on the sugars.  Of course, everyone is different and not all diabetic recipes work for all people.

Diabetic Chocolate Mud Cake

1 block Lindt 80% Chocolate or similar very low carb dark chocolate

250 grams butter

½ cup Monk Fruit Sugar Free Sweetner (the brown sugar equivalent if you can get it) or 1 cup of other sweetners (getting the right “to taste” level for your palette is going to be a challenge – start with this ratio and then tweak)

50 - 150 mls warm water (to partly dissolve sugar replacement, the quantity will depend on the brand and type of sugar replacement you use)

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup cocoa

½ cup low fat sour cream (don’t use full fat, it’s too thick)

2 cups almond meal

Milk if required

Method:

The best bit is, it’s completely numpty proof

Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees and grease and line an 8 inch cake tin

Melt chocolate and butter together

Partly dissolve the sugar substitute in warm water.

Beat eggs and vanilla with whisk. Do know whip egg whites. This is a dense cake

Whisk in the chocolate/butter mix, sugar subsitute and sour cream

Combine well 

Fold in all dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon.  If the mix is too dry (this happens with some kinds of sweeteners) add a little water or milk until the mix is the consistency of a firm cake batter.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the cake “smells cakey” and a thin firm top has formed.  

You can remove the cake now, and cover in aluminium foil on the bench until cooled. This will allow for the centre to firm a little further, without risking burning the top (almond flour burns easier than wheat flour)  This will result in a gooey, oozy mud cake that borders on a lava cake.  It’s quite delightful.

If you prefer a drier texture, bake for a further 5-10 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.  Rotate the cake tin to avoid too much darkening on the top of the cake.

Allow to cool

Dust in cocoa

Serve with whipped cream and a healthy quantity of your favourite berries.

So good, very simple and the first diabetic dessert recipe you should master!