I'm Diabetic but I Still Want Dessert!

I did good for the first year of the diabetes diagnosis, but then all hell broke loose and I was consumed with finding and creating desserts that I could safely eat without raising my blood sugar.

Enter my dear friend Kay, who has lived with type 2 for many years. She recommended I start exploring cheesecakes made with artificial sweeteners. Cheesecakes are full of protein and you can create them with very little sweetener and still have them turn out scrumptious. Plus because it's not actually a cake you're not dependent upon flour and sugar to create the texture you're looking for.

In addition, I have recently discovered the joys of erythritol, a powdered substitute for sugar which I found in the pharmaceutical department of my grocery store. I have been safely using erythritol to sweeten things without compromising my glucose levels. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you look into it for your baking needs. It is one of the sugar alcohols and it does not have the aftertaste of other artificial or natural sweeteners. 

So here's my recipe for cranberry cheesecake. I know the holiday season is long gone, but cranberries are so good for you and I love their tartness. 

This cheesecake is made in a 7 inch springform pan, smaller than the standard 9 inch. Prepare the crust according to my recipe A Berry Fraiche Tart, but use only 3/4 cup of almonds, 3 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of flour (use a high fiber flour like almond flour, oat flour, or even coconut flour).

Crazy Cranberry Cheesecake

A Low GI Dream

2 pckgs cream cheese

¼ cup erythritol

¼ cup splenda

2 tbsp stevia blend

1 tbsp coconut flour

2 eggs

1 egg white (leftover from making crust)

1 ½ cup fresh cranberries

¼ cup triple sec

splash of water

¼ cup erythritol

Put cranberries in a small sauce pan with triple sec water and erythritol. Simmer until all the cranberries have bursted and it has thickened a little bit. Set aside to cool or put it in subzero freezer for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 or 325 if you have convection.

Combine room temperature cream cheese with sugars and flour in a stand mixer. Blend till creamy. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla on low-speed. Blend until very smooth.

Pour the mixture into a prepared springform pan over your parcooked crust.  Scoop the cranberries over the top of the cheesecake and swirl with a knife.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the center is still moist looking and the outside is set. I bake it with a broiler pan full of water underneath to create steam and keep it from cracking. This also keeps me from having to do a water bath.

You can use this recipe for a 9 inch springform pan by adding another package of cream cheese, increasing the sweetener to your liking, adding one egg, and another tablespoon of butter.

Celebrating Change with Chocolate Bread Pudding!

Okay so it's been awhile. To my 142 followers, thank you so much for not "unfollowing" me despite the fact that I haven't posted since March.

All I can say is, it's been a heck of a year! So many changes I have barely had time to think, let alone write.

The biggest changes are as follows, and these are in no particular order . . .

I met and fell in love with the man of my dreams.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
I took a part time job as the principal cookie baker for a gluten-free bakery.
My new love and I bought a house together and combined households after knowing each other about 10 months!

How crazy is that?! 

I have so much to share about my journey over the last few months but since getting diagnosed with diabetes is one of the biggest changes I've been coping with, I thought my first post should be my latest recipe adaptation.

So, if you are type 2 diabetes, and you've been looking for a holiday--or any day really--dessert to serve, try my . . .

Chocolate Bread Pudding
adapted from Alton Brown's Chocolate Bread Pudding Recipe 

2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup Splenda
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons Stevia Blend
1 1/2 cups half-n-half
1 to 1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 ounce strong coffee or espresso
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
10 ounces stale high fiber bread, or about 8 or 9 slices
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably 72-85% cacao, broken into 1/2 inch pieces

Alton Brown makes all this in a blender and I thought that worked really well. First the eggs, then the sweeteners and cocoa, then the milk, coffee and vanilla. Blend each ingredient for a short time as you go. It only takes a few seconds for each ingredient so it's really a low-fuss dish. I used leftover coffee and I thought it turned out really good. The darker the chocolate, the less sugar in it, so stick with a 72% to 85% cacao and you should be able to keep the overall sugar content low in this dish.

My recipe is for a medium size bread pudding in a deep glass 9 inch casserole. I buttered the dish, threw the bread in it, tossed the chocolate pieces on the top and then poured the egg mixture over the whole thing. Then I refrigerated it for 8 hours. The bread really was stale so refrigerating allows the bread to soak up the egg mixture.

Then it goes in the oven for about 45 minutes at 325 degrees F.

Alton Brown instructs that you spritz the thing with melted butter and then stick it under the broiler for a couple seconds. I found this step totally unnecessary and burdensome. I ain't got all day to stand around watching things in the broiler. I served this with a brunch and I had a frittata to worry about. So at the last minute, we whipped up some fresh whipped cream with a little bit of Stevia Blend to serve with the bread pudding.

And let me just say . . . OMG this was so stinkin' good! I've been experimenting with a variety of desserts that are low in glycemic load, but this one turned out FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC!!

So here are my DIABETES DISCLAIMERS:

1. I am not a doctor, nurse, or nutritionist. I manage my type 2 diabetes (which, btw, was really bad because I had an A1C test that put me at 12.2!!) completely by diet.

2. The high fiber bread in this bread pudding recipe is no sugar added 100% whole wheat high-fiber store-bought bread that anyone can find in the grocery store. These are breads I've been eating for awhile so I know they do not make my glucose spike significantly.

3. There is lots of info about artificial sweeteners, but from what I have read, Splenda and Stevia do not increase glucose levels. The Stevia Blend, however, has sugar in it, so I use it sparingly as a flavor enhancer, not as the primary sweetener. Since it has sugar in it, it could affect glucose levels if you used a lot of it.

4. I check my glucose level 2 and 3 hours after eating one of my recipe adaptations, just as I did with this one. Two hours after I ate the bread pudding, my glucose level was at 127, which means there wasn't a significant spike and I was back down within a reasonable amount of time after eating.

I hope to write more about my journey over the last year, sharing low glycemic load recipes I've either found or created, maybe sharing some pics of our new home and getting back to some crafting and jewelry-making. 

I'm celebrating change with the following leading ladies:

Our Delightful Home Show Me What You Got Linky
Skip to My Lou Made by You Monday
Boogieboard Cottage Masterpiece Monday