Cauliflower Pate

My cauliflower pate supposed to be cauliflower bread. At least that’s what original recipe said. I was very excited to try this innovative way of making bread with cauliflower. The result is very nice and tasty but I wouldn’t call it bread. It soft inside and it doesn’t resemble bread texture. It looks more like a pate and I would serve it as a side dish with meats or salads. If you would like to add some more flavour to the pate I think you can add some fried onions or mushrooms. Also dried tomatoes would taste great.

 

Ingredients (make 20 slices):

400g fresh cauliflower
2 eggs + 1 egg white
120g ground almond
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. bicarbonate soda
Juice from ¼ lemon
1 tsp. salt
Black pepper to your taste
1 tbsp. green pesto
 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Blend cauliflower together with eggs and egg white in a food processor until you have smooth mixture. Transfer to a big bowl.
3. Add ground almond, olive oil, salt, pepper, baking powder, soda and lemon and mix everything well.
4. Line small (20 cm long) rectangular form with baking paper and transfer the mixture into it.
5. Spread pesto on the top. You may slightly swirl it with knife so the pesto get inside the pate.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes until nice browned on top and the sides.
7. Let the pate to cool down before slicing.

Enjoy J
 

Carbohydrates and Calories:

	Whole pate	1 slice
Carbohydrates	20g	1g
Calories	1464	73

 Source: The Eighty Twenty Rule

Chocolate and Mint 'Meringue' Cake

That cake was a big disappointment and surprise at the same time. A bit confusing I know :) The cake is based on recipe of mint meringue cake and looked so lovely that I decided to make it in low carb version. I learned my lesson there - it is impossible to make proper meringue without sugar. It looked like meringue but the texture was completely different. No lovely crust just a spongy pile :( I was really disappointed and nearly threw it away. No way I would show something like this on my blog! I didn’t know what to do with melted chocolate and cream waiting in the fridge so I decide to finish the cake and even took few pictures because it looked really nice. I thought the story would finish there but when I cut a piece I was absolutely shocked. The cake was delicious. It had nothing to do with meringue but combination of cream and minty, spongy base tasted divine. I had two pieces in one go and wanted more!

 

Ingredients (make 8 pieces):

Base:

5 egg whites
Equivalent of 170g sugar ( I used 17g Splenda)
2 tsp. potato starch
70 g dark chocolate, finely chopped ( I used Menier with 30g of carbs in 100g)
1 tsp. mint extract

Cream:

300 g whipping cream
2 tbsp. Splenda

Decoration:

2 tbsp. pomegranate or fresh redcurrant
Few leaves of fresh mint
30g melted dark chocolate (I used Menier)

Preparation:

1.    Preheat oven to 120C. Draw a 20cm diameter circle on a piece of baking paper and place it on a large baking tray.

2.    Using electric mixer whisk the egg whites to form soft peaks. Add the sweetener (spoonful at the time) and continue whisking until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Add potato starch and mint extract and mix briefly. Now put aside about 2 or 3 tbsp. of egg mixture. You will use it to make about 10 little meringues for decoration.

3.    Add the chopped chocolate to the bowl and fold in very gently.

4.    Spoon the mixture on a circle you drew before and using a spoon spread evenly on the top.

5.    Using piping bag make little meringues around the big one. If you don’t have space put it on a separate tray.

6.    Bake for about an hour and leave it in the oven for about 2 hours to cool down. 

Cream:

Using electric mixer whip the cream. At the end of whipping add Splenda.

Decoration:

1.    In a little bowl melt the chocolate over simmering water. Using little spoon or plastic bag with a little hole pour the chocolate over little meringues. If you have some left decorate the base as well.

2.    Spoon the whipped cream on the base and decorate with little meringues, pomergrante and leaves of mint.

Enjoy :)

Carbohydrates and Calories:

	Whole cake	1 piece
Carbohydrates	64.8g	8.1g
Calories	1872	234

Source: Adapted from taste.com.au

Lemon Tart

Happy Easter to Everyone! Hope you are having great time and lots of nice food (diabetic friendly of courseJ). Maybe lemon tart is not traditional Easter cake but I have been planning to make it for ages and Easter is a good occasion to get my baking ingredients out of the cupboard and try something new. I like lemon tart but I’ve never tried the crust made with ground almond. It proved to be great and now can’t wait to make other variations of this tart. Raspberry tart, strawberry tart, blueberry tart, vanilla tart, chocolate tart…endless possibilities J

 

Ingredients (make 12 pieces):

Tart:

270g ground almond
2 eggs
3 tbsp. coconut oil (I think you can replace it with melted butter or olive oil if you don’t have coconut oil)
½ tsp. salt

Lemon Filling:

7 eggs
180 ml double cream
Equivalent of 300 g sugar ( I used 30g Splenda)
5 lemons, zest and juice

Preparation:

1.    Preheat oven to 180C. Place all the ingredients for the tart in a large bowl and mix well together. Form a bowl from dough and press evenly into 23 cm wide loose bottomed tart tin and bake for about 15 minutes until very slightly browned. Set aside to cool down a bit. Reduce oven temperature to 170C.

2.    For the filling, whisk the eggs with wire whisk. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until smooth and well combined.

3.    Poor the filling into cooled tart base and bake for about 30 min or just set but still with a slight wobble in the centre.

4.    Cool down a bit and decorate with lemon zest or dust with icing sugar. 

Enjoy J 

Calories and Carbohydrates:

	Whole cake	1 piece
Carbohydrates	82g	6.8g
Calories	3708	309

 Source: I adapted and combined 2 recipes, from Elana's Pantry and The Great British Bake Off 

Thai soup

This simple to make Thai soup is one of my favourites. Coconut milk together with lemon zest creates lovely taste and I can say I’m addicted to this soup. I make it at least once a week and enjoy every time I have it. Low in carb noodles (called shirataki or zero noodles) that you can buy in health or Thai shops makes it ideal dish for diabetics. It’s very easy to make and preparations takes no more than 20 minutes. I make it with chicken breast or sea food such as squid and prawns. Both versions delicious J

Ingredients (makes 3 portions):

750 ml chicken broth
400g coconut milk
250g chicken breast, cut into little cubes
1 stalk lemon grass
1 tsp. ginger, minced
1 tsp. garlic, minced
Lime zest from 1 lime
3 shallots, chopped
1 little red chili, chopped
3 tbsp. fish sauce
Lime juice from ½ lime
1 tbsp. Coriander  

Preparation:

1.    In a medium sauce pan place chicken broth together with ginger, garlic, lime zest, shallots, chili and simmer for 10 minutes.

2.    Add coconut milk, fish sauce and lime juice and simmer for further 5 minutes.

3.    Add chicken breast and simmer for about 5 minutes until cooked.

4.    Serve with zero noodles and a bit of coriander. 

Enjoy J 

Carbohydrates and calories:

	Whole soup	1 portion
Carbohydrates	20g	6.6g
Calories	672	224

 Source: I took it from the magazine years ago. Sorry but I can’t remember what magazine so no source for this recipe L

Coconut and Chocolate Cake

I think I should call my blog Diabetic Good Baking. I love cakes and when I was diagnosed with diabetes I was terrified that I won’t be able to enjoy my Sunday cake treat with cup of coffee. Luckily reality is not that bad J There are many cakes that are suitable for diabetics and thank to sweeteners you can reduce carbohydrates content a lot. Piece of cake with 5g of carbs sounds great and tastes delicious too. It’s easy to make and if you are fun of coconut you will love this cake!

Ingredients (make 12 pieces):

For coconut base:

6 egg whites
150g desiccated coconut
Equivalent of 200g sugar (I used Splenda)
2 tbsp. potato starch
1 tsp. baking powder

For chocolate cream:

250g mascarpone cheese
3 tbsp. cocoa
Equivalent of 3 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. greek yogurt or cream 

Preparation:

1.    Preheat oven o 170C and line springform tin with baking paper.

2.    Whisk the egg whites to form soft peaks. Add the sugar (spoonful at the time) and continue whisking until the mixture forms stiff peaks.

3.    In a medium bowl mix coconut, potato starch and baking powder and fold it in gently.

4.    Pour the batter into baking tin and bake for about 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cake there for about an hour.

5.    For the chocolate topping mix mascarpone cheese with sweetener, cocoa and yogurt. If it’s too thick add a bit more of yogurt or cream.

6.    Spread the chocolate cream on top of cooled cake and decorate with coconut. 

Enjoy J 
 

Carbohydrates and Calories (using Splenda and Greek style yogurt):

	Whole cake	1 portion
Carbohydrates	67.5g	5.6g
Calories	2247	187

 Source: Own recipe

Butternut Squash French fries

I have never before used butternut squash for cooking. I know it’s shocking but I’ve always associated squash or pumpkin type of vegetables with Halloween. It was created for fun, to scare little children, not to eat!
When I noticed massive pile of butternut squashes in my local supermarket I thought people must buy it and cook something with it. Maybe it’s worth to give it a go? After some research in cooking books I went for the simple option – baked butternut squash that imitates French fries. I miss fries and it would be nice to replace it with something similar.
French fries made with squash are not as potatoes fries. The taste is a bit sweet and nutty but they are very good if not better! I had them with salad and piece of grilled chicken. Absolutely fabulous lunch J
 

 

Ingredients (serves 3):

1 Butternut squash (after peeling 500g)
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. mild chilli powder (you can use different spices)
 

Preparation:

1.    Peel the squash. That’s the hardest part L Use a sharp knife as the skin is very tough.

2.    Preheat the oven to 200C.

3.    Cut the squash in half and remove seeds using spoon.

4.    Cut the squash in 1 cm slices and then in stalks like French fries.

5.    In a large pan bring to boil about 1l of water and simmer cut squash for about 3 minutes. Drain well and cool down a bit.

6.    In a large bowl mix the olive oil with salt and spices. Add the squash fries and mix well but be careful not to break the them.

7.    Bake on a large baking tray (lined with baking paper) for about 25 minutes until golden brown.

 

Enjoy J 

 

Carbohydrates and Calories

	Fries made of whole squash	1 portion
Carbohydrates	50g	17g
Calories	340	113