Sugar Free - or - Healthier option - Chocolate cake recipes??

Ladies!

Help!!!

hubby has given up smoking AND sugar! yikes...:doh:

He has not smoked a sniggarette for 37 days :clap: (I know this as he has this graph thingy of how many days he has stopped for, and how much he has saved and yesterday I received my *update* :rolleyes:...the man is a nerd...really.)

Anyway, it is his birthday in 8 days, but I am having his birthday dinner on Sunday.

Seeing as he has abolished sugar from his life...I am hoping some of you might have a *full proof* *sugar free* or healthier option, chocolate cake recipe???

please please please PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE


okay, enough begging!

You can get "sugar alternatives" suitable for cooking, but to be honest, I don't know what's in them. If its all artificial, then I am sure that just plain old sugar would still be a healthier option.

I use normal sugar, but reduce the amount that recipes call for (and note it down for next time), and nobody complains.

And well done to Hubby for getting rid of the smokes! :clap:

I will have a look, as I *think* I may have a suitable recipe. Does it have to be chocolate?

You can sub Stevia/ natvia or Xylitol in place of sugar. All are natural and healthier than sugar.

Netix - He is a choc-o-hog-alic! so thought it wld be nice....however, I'm not that big a fan of it, so I am more than happy to *take one for the team* and NOT do chocolate!! hehe

Tanstar - can I get that from good ole woolies? or do I need a health shop?? and does it bake as well as sugar? Yes, I am aware that may be a silly silly question :hide:

Natvia is available at Woolworths and Coles and contains the natural product Stevia. Google it first to make sure you are happy with stevia as a choice. They say that Stevia has 0 calories, something to do with the way your body processes the product. Natvia is marketed as a great alternative to sugar for baking. I haven't used it but I have a friend to loves baking and uses Natvia and swears by it.

I just made up another batch of favourite refined sugar-free, grain free brownies- they are so good I eat them almost every day :lol: We bake it in a round cake pan for birthday cakes :) I use an electric mixer and it's super easy.

Fudgy Coconut Flour Brownies from wellfedhomestead
1 cup butter or ghee, melted and slightly cooled

1 cup cocoa powder

9 eggs

1 cup honey

3/4 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp sea salt

3/4 cup coconut flour

Butter a 9×13 pan (mine was slightly larger than 9×13). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, remove from heat. Add the cocoa powder into the butter, set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. Add in the honey, vanilla and salt and whisk well.

Add in the coconut flour, little bits at a time, mixing well to avoid lumps.

Add in the cocoa powder-butter mixture and whisk very well. If you do not whisk well enough, you’ll have clumps in your brownies that are yellow when the rest is chocolatey-brown.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Hmmmm. I have tried both Natvia and Stevia and to be honest, I don't like the aftertaste. It has the same bitterness as aspartame or nutrisweet. Im not sure if I am particularly sensitive to it or something but I really can't stand the taste.

Personally, I prefer using a low sugar recipe. Applesauce is also a good alternative. Oh, and logicane is good too. It is sugar but it doesn't cause your blood sugar to spike as much as white sugar does.

I have a few recipes for cakes where I don't use sugar at all. But they have a banana and berry base.

Try this recipe. The blog is great for low gi (so therefore low sugar) recipes...

http://lowgicooking.com/pear-chocolate-fudge-cake/

Natvia and Stevia are from supermarkets, Xylitol from a health food shop. I haven't used them for baking but use them in coffee etc. definitely a different taste to sugar, especially xylitol, but they don't have chemicals so it's just an acquired taste!

IMO all the sugar substitutes taste dreadful and most of them are no better for you than sugar.
You can find glucose in the brewing section of the supermarket and use it as sugar since it is metabolised differently to fructose - there are some recipes on the Sweet poison website.

You only have a birthday once a year and if you're going to eat cake you may as well enjoy eating cake instead of trying to convince yourself that a second rate excuse is just as good as the real thing. DH doesn't eat processed sugar most of the time (and he doesn't substitute sweeteners) but for his birthday I make a killer pavlova and he eats it.

:

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You only have a birthday once a year and if you're going to eat cake you may as well enjoy eating cake instead of trying to convince yourself that a second rate excuse is just as good as the real thing

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I thought this too.

I had a think, and two *relatively* low sugar desserts you could make (which have dark chocolate) would be profiteroles or tiramisu. Otherwise, the chocolate cake I make, has 1 1/2 cups of white sugar, which is a bit, but it makes a fairly big cake, with 2 1/2 cups of flour. I can post the recipe if you like.

hmmmm suppose you are right Onyx and Netix ... the thing is, my birthday was last week, and he *pigged out* on my caramel mudcake! so was trying to do a sugar free one for his...

nah stuff it!

gimme one with sugar in it!

Would love it if you could give me yr recipe Netix :)

Meow - I looked for coconut flour today! but couldn't find it in Woolies... do you just get it at yr local grocery shop over there??

Thanks girls!

I do just buy it at the supermarket here. I know plenty of people use it in Oz but not sure where to buy it sorry.

Nikky, I have posted the recipe; https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...1/#post3072658

Thanks so much Netix!

Have just read the recipe...and I am going to attempt to make it on Sunday while the man is off playing golf!

Perhaps if you at least use raw sugar that would help make it a slightly less processed and healthy option?

Havent read all the replies but i use stevia for any sugar i may need which is next to nothing ;), i make chocolate cakes and alike with 100% cocoa in them and 75-85% cocoa dark chocolate and use coconut milk in place of milk and also coconut flour in place of normal flour but also add in honey as a sweetner. Apple cinnamon cake made like this tastes awesome without any added sugar in it, substited or not.

HTH

Where do you get coconut flour from? Can you use it for gluten free cooking? (GF dunce here)

sure can netix its just ground up really fine coconut :)

ETA - When you use it just remember is soaks up so much more than normal or even gluten free flour does