[maxyboo]

A friend of mine is trying to lose weight and has asked if I know of a cake recipe that doesn't contain sugar. I will attempt a google search later but thought I would ask if any of you know a delicious recipe. I think I have heard of ones which contain fruit juice to replace the sugar but have probably got it wrong.

[viettaclark]

Anything sweet contains natural sugars of one sort or another Our white sugar is processed from beet and our brown from cane.
I know they used parsnips for cakes in the war years and carrots add sweetness.......
And I'm pretty sure the vegan cafe in town uses concentrated apple juice but I haven't got a recipe handy I'm afraid! Apple juice is very high in natural sugars so you're actually still eating sugar.
I'm doing Weightwatchers where most fruit and veg doesn't count (even bananas!!) I think they want people to fill up on those. It's healthier!
Wonder if a cake using the natural sugars in fruit/veg would be less points.....hmmmmm.
If you find a recipe let us know and I'll plug it into the recipe builder to find out what points it's got. Hmmmmmmm.....
Does this mean I get to eat CAKE!

[viettaclark]

You could always use the powdered sugar substitute.........(yuck)

[Mosslane]

I have to make such cakes etc. as my OH had to cut sugar from his diet recently. This one is a good one but there are loads if you google

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Grated carrot
1 1/4 cup Chopped dates
1 cup Raisins
1 1/3 cup Water
1/4 cup Applesauce, unsweetned
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground cloves
1 tsp Nutmeg
2 cup Whole wheat flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda


Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Place the carrots, dates, raisins, water,
applesauce, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in a saucepan, bring to boil,
reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool. Stir the dry ingredients
together. Combine the wet and dry mixtures and stir until well blended.
spoon the batter into an 8x8" nonstick cake pan and bake for 45 to 50
minutes.

[Mosslane]

And this is super as a birthday or Christmas cake

225g dates
300ml water
450g mixed fruit
175g plain wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cocoa (not drinking chocolate)
1 teaspoon mixed spice
25g ground almonds
grated zest of 1 orange
8 tablespoons orange juice


Preparation method

1.Put dates and water in a saucepan, bring up 'just' to the boil and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Stir occasionally, until all of the dates have broken down to a pulp. Leave to cool slightly. 2.Chop the figs and apricots until the size of sultanas. Put all of the other ingredients into a bowl, except the orange juice. Add the date pulp and gradually add the orange juice until you get a moist but not too wet mix. 3.Either put into a lined loaf tin or 8" round cake tin and bake for appox 1 1/4 hour at 180 C / Gas 4 (slightly lower

[Mosslane]

And just to give encouragement - we cut sugar from our diet 7 months ago. No other changes just no sugar. Still bake cakes and biscuits etc. using honey or fructose. My OH has lost 2 stone and I have lost 3. Small changes make a big difference, but it is suprising what things contain sugar when you read the packs.

[tosca100]

As Angela has said in her recipes, apple sauce and carrots are used a lot in low sugar, low fat recipes.  I tend to cut the sugar down in most recipes, especially if the cake contains fruit. Doesn't seem to make much difference to the cake, still goes quickly enough.

[maxyboo]

Thanks for all your help. I will pass these on to her and let you know how she gets on. I did think using apple juice would just mean replacing one sugar with another but it does sound healthier

[Janeymiddlewife]

At the risk of annoying a few people  if she is serious about losing weight why is she eating cake? However you make it, it is pretty loaded with empty calories, (maybe apart from fruit based cakes). OK the very occasional piece of cake won't hurt, but if she's anything like my mum, mum bakes a cake "just in case" someone comes round, then scoffs the lot as she doesn't want to "waste" anything    She's a diabetic too 
Saw a dietitian last week, got some really good practical advice, and I'm afraid cake was on the "try to avoid" list  Problem is people will look on food as a "treat" or "reward" and unless your friend changes the way she thinks about food she will probably continue to have problems.  It's taken me 40 odd years to work this out, but I have not put on any weight since mid December and have lost small amounts most weeks. It's tough, got 3 stone to shift which dietitian says will take 3 YEARS  Good luck!

[Auntiemogs]

Anything sweet contains natural sugars of one sort or another Our white sugar is processed from beet and our brown from cane.
I know they used parsnips for cakes in the war years and carrots add sweetness.......
And I'm pretty sure the vegan cafe in town uses concentrated apple juice but I haven't got a recipe handy I'm afraid! Apple juice is very high in natural sugars so you're actually still eating sugar.
I'm doing Weightwatchers where most fruit and veg doesn't count (even bananas!!) I think they want people to fill up on those. It's healthier!
Wonder if a cake using the natural sugars in fruit/veg would be less points.....hmmmmm.
If you find a recipe let us know and I'll plug it into the recipe builder to find out what points it's got. Hmmmmmmm.....
Does this mean I get to eat CAKE!

Well...if beet=vegetable I don't see the problem...only saying...

[maxyboo]

I know what you are saying Janey and I pretty much agree. My friend is not huge, probably about 5 foot 7 and 12 stone but she is on steroids which make her absolutely ravenous and can make you put weight on anyway. I think she just wants something for those times when she is craving cake as she is liable to go and buy a big choccie one and scoff the lot! She is being good so far but I do think she will need to treat herself occasionally or she will give in. Good luck with your healthy eating regime.

[GrannieAnnie]

I know what you mean Maxyboo.  OH and I need to lose a lot of weight, but even when I went to Weightwatchers, they said a little of what you fancy does you good.

So yes I know cake and biscuits are bad for healthy eating regimes, but they certainly cheer you up at times!

I'm going to try Mosslane's recipes!   Thanks Mossy!!!!   

[Janeymiddlewife]

If it helps, have worked out the total calories in the sugar free birthday cake as about 2023,
so if it serves 10 (all my maths can cope with!) then each serving is about 200 calories.
However the method mentions figs & apricots which I can't see in the recipe?
If they're included then 200g would probably add another 500 calories to the mix, so a tenth of the cake would be about 250 calories
HTH
JMW

[maxyboo]

Thanks Janey, that sounds rather a lot to me but I have never been one to count calories so don't know what's "normal" for a slice of cake. If it tastes good I'll eat it

[sazhig]

http://www.dessertstalker.com/ is a good site for low sugar cakes or ones that avoid the use of refined sugar. They also mostly grain free which will help with the weight loss as well