DIABETIC BIRTHDAY CAKE

BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR TYPE 1 DIABETICS – one 9 inch layer cake

These past few weeks my focus has been on meeting the needs of our granddaughter & her family as they learn to adjust their lives and eating plans to best suit their daughter’s diagnoses of type 1 diabetes.

On Saturday I was privileged to attend a Type 1 Diabetes Conference with our son at the Medical Centre of the University of Manitoba. The speakers & interaction with many individuals encouraged me to keep on doing what I can to create healthy recipes that would be greater choices for those with this disease.

I shared a few recipes these past weeks in posts on my website and will continue to do that from time to time in the weeks and months to come. It seems there are always ways to include a healthier ingredient and remove others that are not as healthy. This is beneficial for all of us, but even more so for anyone dealing with a disease.

Healthier recipes are important, but it is always great when a recipe is enjoyed and becomes a favorite as well. My passion is creating recipes that are both nutritious and as well tasty.

At the conference I spoke with many individuals who have someone in the family dealing with type 1 diabetes and it seems that food was a big issue. People say type 1 diabetics can have their birthday cake and other great desserts, but it always comes with the need for extra insulin & needle; something that is not fun for most kids. And as well, kids may go to parties quite often so I feel there are times when we need better choices.

Last night I began to create again. I have read so much about studies done on flax by the Flax Council as well as other Research Centres and flax is one nutritious seed that can be a huge benefit to diabetics. That is why I am trying to replace flour with crushed flax in recipes.

As well it is so important that we use more of the healthier fats and omit the unhealthy ones so I will often use avocado oil; a fat that can be heated quite high without becoming damaged.

As a sweetener I am using palm sugar as it is low glycemic.

CHOCOLATE BIRTHDAY CAKE – one 9 inch round cake
If you want to feed more people you can make two of these, splice them both through the centre horizontally, pile them up with fillings between. Right now the picture is of only one cake with a strawberry filling between and covered with nutri-whip as that is what I have on hand.

I measure each of these ingredients accurately by scraping across the top with a straight edge.
3/4 cup crushed flax (0 carbs)
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 level tablespoons palm sugar ( 20 carbs)
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons cocoa
Mix these together with a hand whip

Add:
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup avocado oil
Whip well. Pour into an ungreased 9 inch glass quiche dish that has 1 1/2 inch sides. A glass pie plate will do as well if you don’t have one with straight sides.

Bake for 3 minutes on high in the microwave. Remove and turn out on to a plate. Cool, splice through the centre horizontally.

FILLING:
3/4 cup thawed strawberries (7.5 g carbs and 2 25 g fibre ) which leaves 5.25 g carbs
juice + water to equal 1/2 cup liquid
1 pk stevia
1 tablespoon corn starch
Drain the berries, add enough water to equal 1/2 cup. Mix in the corn starch & microwave until thickened. Mix until smooth. Mash in the berries and spread on the one half cake. Cover with the other half.

TOPPING:
3/4 cup nutri-whip = about 1 3/4 cups whipped
Whip until nice and stiff. Cover the sides and top of cake.
Topping for the whole cake will have the following amounts:
1 3/4 cup whipped nutri-whip, 40 g fat, 160 g sodium, 24 g carbs, 24 g sugar

DECORATIONS:
Cakes can be decorated without this chocolate by using plastic items but I chose to put a few shreds of chocolate on the cake I made today.
The shredded chocolate on top of the whole cake is 1/8 of a small dark choc bar on the whole cake =
2 g carbs, 1 g fibre, 1/4 g sugar, 1/2 g protein. (divide by the number of pieces of cake you cut)

For total nutrients in serving, divide the cake, topping and chocolate decorations by as many pieces as you cut the cake into.

Eg:
The whole cake will have 45 grams carbohydrates (or 5.7 grams in a slice that is 1/8th of the cake.)
The whole cake will have 40 grams of unhealthy fat (or 5 grams per 1/8th of the cake slice)
The whole cake will have 160 g of sodium (or 20 grams in 1/8th of the cake slice)
The whole cake will have 24 g of sugar (or 3 grams of sugar per 1/8th of the cake slice.)

In a few days I will create another cake that will use golden flax and a different flavoring as one won’t want chocolate all of the time. Both the golden and dark flax have about the same nutrients. The only difference is the color.

I will also try & share different fillings or toppings. 2 cups of whipped cream would have 14 grams of carbohydrates and one could sweeten it with stevia powder.

All for today. Tomorrow I want to share a few recipes that we served at our PrimeTimers. (a group of 50 seniors) When I cook for our seniors I also try to use nutrient-rich ingredients so we will be as healthy as possible and enjoy our retirement years. Sincerely Winnie