How to bake a chocolate cake for a diabetic?
I want to make a cake for a co-worker who is diabetic. She has requested a chocolate cake. I've seen Splenda posts before. Is that something I can use to make a cake so she can have some?
I'm a good baker but I have never had to make a cake for a diabetic. Help?
OnceUponABite
Feb 26, 2007 05:28PM
I googled diabetic chocolate cake and a bunch of stuff came up - although I am sure you are looking for actual experience! I had to cook once for a diabetic that was in renal failure. Now that was a trick!
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Can she have flour? Total carbs count for someone who's diabetic. Maybe a flourless chocolate cake would be better and you could use splenda. Something like this:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Desser...
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look into nigella lawson's clementine cake with chocolate. I was diabetic when I was pregnanct and I had no trouble with my blood sugar when I ate it. It is made with almond flour, oranges, cocoa powder and eggs (if I remember correctly).
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The problem with cake is not just the sugar but the white flour, which turns to sugar as it is metabolized. What a diabetic needs not to do is ingest a hit of sugar and/or white flour as this will cause the blood sugar to peak, a very bad result. Does this person request a chocolate cake? Or would a gift of something else, say for example flowers, be more appropriate? In any case if the person insists on eating cake, a gift of a whole cake is worse than just a piece of cake or a cupcake, if he or she expects to eat the whole cake a piece at a time. The gift of a cake is not a kindness to a diabetic.
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Let me add to my previous posting. I see that others have suggested a flourless cake made with Splenda. A German or Austrian torte using ground nuts and eggs instead of flour is another option. Maybe you can work out a torte that uses whole wheat flour instead of white, whole grains metabolize more slowly than refined (to avoid the peaking of blood sugar). A meringue is a possibility if you can make one work with Splenda or some other sugar substitute. Some diabetics can get away with eating cheesecake (fat and protein along with the sugar will mitigate the effect of sugar). But sometimes (and I don't at all know that this is the case here) well-meaning friends take an attitude toward a diabetic of "I am going to give you a treat just this once so, here, have this nice box of fudge". This is not really kind.
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A couple of questions:
-Has she specifically requested a sugarless cake?
-Is she Type-1 or Type-2 diabetic, and if she's Type-2, is it related to a weight condition?(probably not a question you'll want to ask, so use your best judgement!)
I've had Type-1 diabetes for 10+ years, and the relatively recent advent of fast-acting insulins and insulin pumps has made types of sugars less relevant than total carbs. Most dietitians now advocate a carb-counting approach which allows people like myself to consume just about anything so long as it is properly accounted for. Being in good control of your diabetes and eating a relatively healthy diet are the most important factors - the occasional sugary/fatty indulgence shouldn't affect someone who's on top of their condition any more than a "normal" person.
It seems that the "sugar=evil" approach is more prevalent among people who have had diabetes for a considerable length of time since this was the prevailing medical advice for all diabetics for most of the 20th century (that is, before fast-acting insulins were widely available). This mindset also exists in the non-diabetic community since this is the angle that popular media usually takes up.
That said, Type-2 diabetes occurs much more frequently in individuals with weight problems, and these problems are often related to a high intake of refined sugars, so if that's the case then a sugar substitute or nut-based cake would be the way to go. Hope this helps!
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I guess it's not as a simple question as I originally though.
At work, in our group, I bake a cake for each person when it's his or her birthday. In the past when it's other people's birthday, this lady would eat just a few bites of the cake. I just thought instead of a few bites, she'd eating more than a few bites,especially if it was her birthday.
I will look into flourless and Splenda options. Thanks everyone!
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I am not diabetic but was going to share the same information that Moglia offered. My closest friend is a dietician who specializes in diabetes counseling and they never recommend sugar substitutes of any kind for their diabetic patients. This woman can have a small portion of cake and manage that intake if she chooses to. It sounds as if her personal choice is to have just a taste. People with diabetes work to find individual solutions and choose between a number of different approaches - these are personal decisions. If she hasn't asked for a 'diabetic' cake, you really shouldn't make her one. From a health perspective her diabetes is better managed if she deals with real foods and uses carb counting to offset the occasional decision to have a carb-heavy food.
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