My niece and her sister both have/had gestational diabetes and my BIL is also a mild diabetic. I am trying to be sensitive to their needs while the rest of the extended clan still enjoys some sweets and desserts (especially for the holidays). Just wondering what tips folks have that they have found helpful, especially if sugar substitutes weren’t needed, all the better. We will also be having a baby shower for niece soon and don’t want to make her feel deprived due to her gestational diabetes.
I’m slotted to bring desserts for New Year’s Day party and am thinking of bringing a fruit platter, plus non-diabetic Walkers shortbread and a non-diebetic chocolate haupia pie (that is widely loved). I figured the fruit platter would be good for folks who are trying to be healthier. Any thoughts?
This is a bit counter intuitive; The site I follow for diabetes claims maple syrup is actually good for diabetics. If interested, you could do further research. If it holds up, it will make an excellent sugar substitute.
Sorry, I keep remembering more ideas - angel food cake is a good option because it’s mostly air LOL. But seriously, much better than other cakes.
I had gestational diabetes (currently have type II) and have never been so well behaved with carbs as I was during those months. And while I was pregnant DH and I were invited to a corporate party at the Ritz Carlton Chicago - a chocolate party! We went, I had my planned upon five bites and no alcohol. Hope DS appreciates what I did for his prenatal health!
I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but not all diabetics are alike and not all diabetics can tolerate the same sugars. I (for one) could never eat maple syrup or citrus fruits.
Cheese and nuts are good. Sometimes dark chocolate is good too - I’m a Type I diabetic and I can eat almost all the dark chocolate I want, provided there’s not too much added sugar.
A flourless chocolate torte, maybe? Often it’s the flour that’s bad for those with diabetes and not the sugar.
Which fruits are good for diabetics? Strawberries? Blueberries? I want things that everyone would be interested in eating as well, since the non-diabetics greatly outnumber those who are diabetic. Any suggestions are greatly welcomed. I could definitely bring some nuts–cheese is an issue since many are lactose intolerant and several can’t eat goat cheese either. The hostess asked me to bring dessert and it isn’t one of my strengths. I could definitely look for sponge cake and similar.
The best fruits for diabetics are typically berries and apples. One small apple has about 15 gms of carb. Citrus, grapes, not so good. Dried fruits are high in sugar, for obvious reasons. It’s not that the diabetic can’t eat anything, it’s a question of how much. For some things it isn’t enough to be worth it.
The problem in many baked goods is not the sugar, which can be modest when spread out over all the servings, but the flour. “No added sugar” does not equate to low carb. (Meringues are loaded with sugar, though.)
I have 2 great desserts that are diabetic friendly: one is a pumpkin cheesecake (no crust) made with a combination of artificial sweeteners, and the other is Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte made with good chocolate with at least 60% cacao, up to about 70%. It contains only the chocolate, butter, and eggs. It can be served with very lightly sweetened whipped cream. Neither of these contain any flour. And any time you can replace flour with finely ground almond or other nut flour, it will lower the carbs.
Regarding artificial sweeteners, supposedly you can use Splenda just like sugar, but in fact if you do the dessert will be revoltingly sweet, because granulated Splenda is sweeter than sugar. (And has added carbs: check it out.) The first time I made the cheesecake, I fell for that. It was horribly sweet and fake tasting. Now, I start with some granulated erythritol–less than half the sugar called for–and add some liquid sweetener like liquid Splenda (doesn’t have the added carbs) to taste. I put everything in the batter but the eggs for the tasting, then add the eggs. I have served this cheesecake in elaborate dessert buffets and everyone devours it. They apparently can’t tell that it is artificially sweetened. Erythritol is a “sugar alcohol” and is known to give people the runs if they consume too much of it at once. In addition, it has that almost minty aftertaste if too much is present. It is something you’d notice in sugarless hard candies. By combining the two, you get a far more natural-tasting sweetness without side effects. The pumpkin plus spices and lemon juice of the cheesecake also disguises any potential artificial flavor. It may be that this would work in a more conventional cheesecake, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Panna cotta made with less sugar in a sauce of pureed berries would be another lower carb dessert. If you check out panna cotta recipes, you’ll see that some have much less sugar. The sugar can be reduced in lots of custard-like desserts. I made a trifle for Christmas and reduced the sugar in the Creme Anglais by about half. It was delicious, and some of those eating it commented that they particularly liked that it wasn’t as sweet as such things often are.
Strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, other melons. Not bananas!
Re the haupia pie, coconut milk has only 13 grams of carbs per cup vs 88 in a cup of regular flour. And 200 in a cup of sugar. Depending on the ingredients, a taste of the filling in the pie might not be too bad if they avoid the crust.
Thanks for these great suggestions. This will help guide us moving forward, as more people may end up with diabetes issues, especially since one sister and one SIL had gestational diabetes as well and BIL has diabetes. I’ve been fortunate not to have to think much about all of this prior to now, but would like to learn.
I’d whip up some low-sugar bacon truffles. Offhand I’d take something like a high-quality (valrhona, callebaut, etc) 70% cacao chocolate and chop finely. Mix gently with enough warm cream and a bit of butter to get it to about a 35-40% level. Cool slightly then mix in some minced smoked bacon once it’s a bit thickened. Stick in the fridge to cool.
To finish either dip in your original melted 70% chocolate or simply roll in unsweetened cacao powder. Sprinkle with some sea salt on top. If you don’t feel like rolling out the truffle balls you can pour the melted mixture into a parchment-lined cake pan then just remove and cut them up into squares when cold.
I usually just eyeball the ingredients but if you want a receipe with measurements I can dig one up in one of my chocolate books (I have a few) for ya.
Or heck, just skip all the fuss and just dip the bacon in the chocolate!
Wow, that sounds so yummy! Will have to carefully consider all of these suggestions for future reference. For New Year’s Day, I’ll probably just be lazy and buy the sponge or angel food cake, shortbread, berries, nuts, and the chocolate haupia pie.
I have a dear friend with type 1 diabetes. Her favorite dessert is my cheesecake which I use Splenda instead of sugar. I also use ground pecans instead of graham cracker crumbs in the crust. She loves it. Splenda measures one to one, so it was an easy substitute.
She loves it, and people who aren’t diabetic seem to like it. You could top with strawberries for those who can eat the carbs.
I also use the recipe with pecans for 2 nieces who have celiac. They are always pleased that I make something that they can eat because so many people forget about them. I use sugar for them, but I could use Splenda if needed.
Cheesecake doesn’t work for me/us because 2 of the 4 in our household don’t do well with lactose, but thanks for the great suggestion otherwise. Quite a few of the others attending are also lactose intolerant.
We often serve mixed berries with either unsweetened whipped cream or very lightly sweetened whipped cream for dessert. Sometimes we get Trader Joes ginger cookies and crumble them on the bottom, in the middle and on the top. Just enough to add a bit of flavor but not too much.
Funny someone mentioned flourless chocolate cake as that’s what I’m making for our NYE dinner and I’ve been looking at recipes today. If anyone has a favorite, I’d love to hear but, of course, I don’t mean to derail the thread. Feel free to PM me.
