Insulin is a hormone that helps your body control the level of glucose in your blood. People with type 2 diabetes cannot properly utilize insulin or their pancreas does not produce enough insulin. This ultimately results in high blood sugar and the inability to convert it to energy. 

Diet and diet alone is the root cause of type 2 diabetes.

In addition, there are other “aggravating factors” such as life style, lack of exercise, heredity and obesity that can predispose you to this health condition and/or make it worse.

The #1 risk factor for diabetes is what you eat and foods such as white sugar, white bread, white rice, foods that are deep fried in hydrogenated oil as well as excessive consumption of caffeine containing beverages and alcohol.

On the other hand, strictly avoiding the foods mentioned above can give you the best possible immunity against diabetes and many other health conditions.

But what about cakes, cookies and desserts? They are ALL full of white sugar and white flour that are main ingredients for most recipes. Does it mean that you should never eat them if you are diabetic or would like to protect yourself from developing diabetes?

I have a confession to make: I love cakes, candies, cookies, desserts and sweets. It may sound naïve but I have never realised how much sugar they contain until I started to bake on my own and went through the list of the ingredients. And that’s where I got scared… because they’re ALL full of sugar.

I thought that there should be a better way of baking that is delicious but also healthy at the same time. So I started my research and here is what I discovered:

1.    Low fat and low carb recipes are highly promoted as healthy and suitable for diabetics but, in fact they are not.  Commercial desserts that are labeled as “low fat” are packed with sugar and carbohydrates. And while the “low carb” options might have less sugar, they use chemical-laden, artificial sweeteners which taste awful and are even worse for people with diabetes and anybody trying to prevent it.

2.    To create healthy cakes and desserts the first step is to remove every ingredient from the recipes that are unnatural or refined, as well as anything that would spike blood sugar or cause the body to store fat. Then substitute these items with proteins, healthy fats and fiber.

3.    Diabetic cakes should have ingredients that prevent sudden spikes of blood sugar and don’t cause the body to store fat.

Ingredients That Are Full Of Sugar

Thanks to misleading messages from food companies many people don’t realise that ANY type of sugar can raise their blood sugar levels. Although some sweeteners such as molasses, honey, agave syrup and raw sugar are promoted as being healthier than white sugar, the truth is that all of them still increase your blood sugar.

According to the American Diabetes Association, all these types of “healthy sugar” account for about 15 g of carbohydrates per tablespoon and are NOT a part of truly healthy diabetic recipes that supposed to be completely sugar-free.

ALL foods that are listed below are high in sugar and should NOT be used as desserts or ingredients for your diabetic cake recipes:

• Any kind of sugar such as white, brown, table, cane, raw and rock sugar
• Most syrups such as golden, maple, corn syrup and molasses
• Treacle, marmalade, jellies and jam that are on average 65% sugar
• Honey is often marketed as a “natural alternative” to sugar but don’t be mistaken because honey contains 80-85% of sugar
• All sweets such as candies, M&M, chocolates, ice-cream, mousses, puddings sweetened desserts and jellies
• Fudge, cakes and biscuits, cookie chips baked with most common flours
• Fruit juices and canned fruits in syrup. For example, some sorts of apple juice contain more sugar per glass than Coca Cola…
• Dry fruits contain much higher sugar amounts than fresh fruits. For example, 100g of raisins contain 60g of sugar.
• Sweetened packet drinks, fizzy soft drinks, vitamin waters, energy and sports drinks, sweet wine and sherry are ALL overloaded with sugar
• Glucose and foods containing glucose
• Condensed milk, flavoured milks, low-fat milks, flavored cream cheeses  and yogurts have sugar added
• Artificial sweeteners because many of them are toxic to the liver and can have side effects
• Chocolate. Beware from “no-sugar” chocolate alternatives: they contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, Ace K, sucralosea and litame or undesirable sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, isomalt, maltitol and mannitol that still raise your blood sugar.

How To Turn A “Sugar Bomb” Into A Healthy Cake

To be truly healthy the diabetic cake recipes should fulfil the following criteria:

1.    Include all-natural low glycemic (GI) ingredients to avoid spikes of blood sugar and fat storage.

2.    Be completely sugar-free. Refined white sugar and corn syrup is poison and even natural sweeteners like agave and honey will still raise your blood sugar. And the bad news is that ALL cakes and dessert recipes contain a lot of sugar and carbohydrates that convert into sugar in your body. However, there is a delicious alternative to sugar and dangerous sugar substitutes that are made from aspartame. It is an all-natural sweetener that has zero calories, zero glycemic index and zero additives.

3.    Be high in protein because protein takes longer to digest and it is known to slow down the absorption of carbohydrates.

4.    Contain healthy fats like coconut oil. Fats slow down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates just like proteins do. Healthy fats can prevent insulin resistance and glucose intolerance when they are used as a substitute for margarines, spreads, shortening and hydrogenated oils. In the long run, it can also help you increase your metabolism and trim down your weight.

5.    Include healthy flour alternatives that are low in GI and will not cause your blood sugar level go high. Most even so-called “healthy” bakers choose whole grain flours over refined white flours.

But whole grain flours are still very high in carbohydrates, have high glycemic index and are NOT suitable for diabetics and those who want to lose weight.

There are low glycemic flours that are a healthier alternative because they have much less carbohydrates than grain-flours.

Imagine being able to make again sweet treats like cakes, candies and desserts for yourself and your family that actually taste like if you would use sugar but doesn’t elevate your blood sugar, safe for diabetics, kids, anyone with a sweet tooth, people who are watching their sugar intake and also want to lose weight.

If you would like to learn how to make sugar-free diabetic cake recipes or think that this is impossible get FREE Report Sugar-Free Dessert Recipes

Today I am going to share an easy raspberry cream cheese frosting recipe with you. It is made with fresh raspberries and has a great flavour. The berries also give natural sweetness to the cream and you don’t need to use as much sugar as for a regular cake frosting recipe.

I used the dark chocolate cake recipe to bake the cake. To make it moist I prepared a raspberry mix that I poured over the layers of the cake and also used a portion of it to add to the cream cheese frosting.

Raspberry Mix Recipe

170g raspberries (1 standard pack)
freshly squeezed orange juice from 2 big oranges

Directions:

To prepare the raspberry mix I combined freshly squeezed orange juice and fresh raspberries in the small pot and cooked it on low heat. Shortly after the mixture comes to a boil the raspberries will start to fall apart and give their juice. The more juice that comes from the raspberries the better the flavour the cream cheese frosting and cake will have.

To separate the seeds from the juice I strained the mix through a fine metal sieve, slightly pushing the pulp to get as much juice as possible and then put the liquid raspberry mix aside to cool down.

To keep the cake moist I used the most part of the raspberry mix to pour over the cake layers. I let it sit for an hour to allow the mix to go through cake before I assembled the layers together. While the rest of the raspberry mix (about 4 tablespoons) was cooling down completely I started to make the base for the cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

250 g of plain cream cheese

100g unsalted butter (softened)

4 tablespoons of icing sugar (Learn how you can substitute sugar with an all-natural sweetener that looks and tastes like sugar but has zero calories and zero sugar to make this and many other of your recipes truly sugar-free and suitable for diabetics, weight loss and prevent weight gain)

4 tablespoons of liquid raspberry mix prepared as described above

Directions:

I combined cream cheese and unsalted butter in a medium bowl and used a mixer to beat it together. Added raspberry mix and icing sugar and beat until it got smooth. Depending on how you like it you can add less sugar.

I used the frosting for the Mother’s day raspberry chocolate cake to put in between the layers and over the cake.

For the cake decorating I used sliced almonds on the sides of the cake, put fresh raspberries on top and used a tempered dark chocolate and then some icing sugar on top of the raspberries.

Check out More Mother’s Day Cake Decorating Ideas

P.S. Please share the recipes and get your copy of FREE Report “Sugar-Free Dessert Recipes“ to learn how you can make your recipes sugar-free.

Mother’s Day is coming up and I wanted to do something special for my mom. I decided to make a chocolate cake. The only problem was that I have never baked a cake…

So as not to make it too complicated for me as a beginner and have a realistic chance of making a beautiful cake, I started to look for some Mother’s Day cake ideas.

I came up with a 3-part recipe for an easy homemade dark chocolate cake from scratch that includes:

– A simple and quick recipe for the dark chocolate cake

– A super easy and delicious recipe for the dark chocolate frosting

– A video tutorial of how to make white chocolate roses for cake decorating

I baked the chocolate cake and prepared the frosting an evening in advance. Then I put it in the refrigerator overnight to let the chocolate frosting go through the cake and continued with the cake decorating on the following day.

This is an easy dark chocolate cake recipe from scratch that is quick and simple to prepare. The cake decorating looks absolutely beautiful and it was easy to make, however it required some time, patience and work since I did it for the first time.

If you are a beginner don’t be afraid to try to using white chocolate roses for the cake decorating. I am absolutely confident that you can make such a great looking and delicious chocolate rose too.

Dark Chocolate Homemade Cake Recipe:

• 2 organic eggs
• 200g of solid organic yogurt (it shouldn’t be liquid)
• 2 tablespoons of organic 100% cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 cup of all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• ½ cup of organic whole milk

Directions:

I put milk aside and combined all other ingredients in a bowl and mixed it well.  I added milk and mixed until smooth. After that I poured the mixture into a baking form that had parchment paper on the bottom. The baking form should be filled only to a maximum 2/3 of the form because the mix will rise.

I baked it in a preheated oven at 350° for 40 minutes until the cake was ready. Then I took the cake out of the form and sliced it into two halves.

Dark Chocolate Frosting Recipe:

• 3 tablespoons of organic 100% cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons of sugar (Learn how you can substitute sugar with an all-natural sweetener that looks and tastes like sugar but has zero calories and zero sugar to make this and many other of your recipes truly sugar-free and suitable for diabetics, weight loss and prevent weight gain)
• 1 small organic egg
• 1 tablespoon of all-purpose gluten-free flour
• ¾ cup of organic whole milk

Directions:

I poured hot dark chocolate frosting over each layer of still warm halves and assembled it into a cake. After the cake  cooled down I placed it into the refrigerator overnight to let the frosting go through. The cake will absorb the frosting like a sponge and keep it moist.

Tip:

If you follow this recipe you get a dark chocolate cake that won’t be sweet. It will have a rich dark chocolate taste that perfectly combines with a sweet taste of the chocolate rose.

If you would like to have a sweet cake you can add more sugar or use any ready cocoa mix for both cake and frosting. Cocoa mixes from your supermarket such as Nesquik are already sweet but they will contain gluten. If you are watching your sugar intake look for the “no sugar added ” Nesquik option.

How To Make White Chocolate Roses Video Tutorial

Chocolate can melt at room temperature and it can ruin your creations within minutes. To save yourself a lot of frustration and prevent your chocolate from melting, getting streaky or spotted and losing its form you should always use tempered chocolate.

Tip:

Don’t make the petals too thin or there is a higher chance that they can break. Try to make the petals rather in an oval form than round. This way it will be easier for you to assemble your white chocolate rose. To make it more interesting I added a small piece of dark chocolate to my white chocolate mix during the tempering and my chocolate rose has a cream color.

More Mother’s Day Cake Ideas

The following short video is about Mother of Pearl cake decorating and how to decorate Mother’s Day cake using water colors:

Check out More Mother’s Day Cake Decorating Ideas

P.S. Please share the recipes and get your copy of FREE Report “Sugar-Free Dessert Recipes“ to learn how you can make your recipes sugar-free.