(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Kos Diabetes Group: April Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake Edition [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-31 Sometimes my attempts at pretty food turn out blah, and every now and then turn out amazing. You decide from my photos how I did. Welcome to this week’s edition of the Kos Diabetes Group! I try to write something monthly (thank you lynnekz for reminding me to sign up!) and it’s almost always food-based. For those who may not know me or why I’m passionate about low-carb food, let me introduce myself… In Jan 2016, after ignoring a rising “pre-diabetic” A1c (stupidly, thanks medical profession for not explaining just how dangerous it was) for four years, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes with an initial A1c of 7.6. For 6 months I followed recommendations from my primary care doctor/diabetes counselor and the American Diabetes Association. My blood sugar remained high, and I realized while 15-50g carbs per meal was FAR less than the standard American diet it was going to be the literal death of me because my pancreas couldn’t read the bajillion articles saying Complex Carbs were Just Fine. With my doctor’s approval I embarked on a drastically limited carb intake aka a ketogenic diet. I absolutely understand this is not for everyone because all of our diabetic metabolisms, care strategies and outcomes are different, but this is MY way of handling my health. I maintained an A1c of under 6.1 for the past 6.5 years by eating keto and taking metformin. However, in January of this year my A1c was 6.5, likely a combination of stress eating (what, you’re not stressed these days?!) AND the reality that diabetes is a progressive disease. My doctor doubled my metformin dose from 500mg to 1000mg, and we’ll recheck my A1c in May. I’m watching more closely what I eat (too much low-carb food is still bad :)) and seeing a reproducible reduction in my morning fasting numbers. There was a time when I believed eating a low-carb diet meant foregoing all the foods I loved. I wish current me could tell past me it wasn’t gonna be like that, and that with very few exceptions (ravioli, a truly on-texture risotto, apple pie) I eat an acceptable version of everything I want as long as I’m willing to make it myself. And one of those things is a deliciously sweet cake with a layer of sweet cream cheese goodness topped with raspberries and almonds. Is it breakfast or is it dessert? Who knows, who cares! It even passed the hardest test of all… non-keto Mr. Brillig took a slice from me, and then later when I wasn’t around cut himself another piece *because it tasted so good*. I may make it again for Easter morning, because it was so pretty and delicious with fresh berries! As is usually the case, this recipe is from keto recipe creator extraordinaire Carolyn Ketchum, owner of the site All Day I Dream About Food. I make no claims to it and thoroughly recommend you go to her site, read the recipe there, and also see all her tips and tricks for making your result turn out as well as hers did (and also for modifications to make it dairy-free, which mine is not). Keto baking is not like regular flour-and-sugar baking and small changes make huge differences in final outcome. Let’s get started! You’ll want a bunch of the ingredients at room temp, so take a look at the recipe and pull out what needs warming up! Cake Batter Ingredients: 2 cups fine-ground almond flour 1/3 cup coconut flour 2 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt ½ cup unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup sweetener (any will do, I used a mix of allulose and erythritol-based granular) 3 eggs, room temperature ¾ tsp almond extract (you can use vanilla too) ½ cup unsweetened almond milk (or 50:50 heavy cream:water) [2 Tbs sliced almonds (for topping)] Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients: 8oz (one ‘block’) cream cheese, room temperature ½ cup sweetener (I used the same mix as in the cake batter) 1 egg, room temperature ½ tsp vanilla extract 1 ½ cups fresh raspberries How to make it: How mine looked before baking 1. Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9” square pan. Because my baked goods always stick, I also put parchment paper on the bottom. 2. Whisk together almond & coconut flours, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl 3. Beat butter and sweetener in a large bowl until well combined (I used a stand mixer). Add the eggs and almond extract. 4. Add dry ingredient mixture, scraping down bowl & beaters as needed. Add the almond milk and combine well then set aside. (I moved it to a different bowl since I needed my mixer for the next part) 5. Beat cream cheese and sweetener until smooth, then add the egg and vanilla extract until combined. 6. Spread about two-thirds of the cake batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top with knife, spatula or (as I did) clean damp fingers. 7. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the batter, then sprinkle the raspberries all over. 8. Top with remaining batter in small dollops, making sure some of the filling peeks through. Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top. 9. Bake ~40 minutes until top is light golden brown and the filling is set but a little jiggly in the middle. Remove and cool completely (keto baked goods need to cool before they’re ‘done’), then chill at least one hour before cutting. Store refrigerated. Nutritional Info (approximate, yours will vary depending on what ingredients you use): 16 servings; 220 calories, 18g fat, 6g protein, 6.8g total carbs, 3.2g fiber. As I said at the beginning, it was delicious! When I make it again, I’ll cut the sweetener a bit since it was almost TOO sweet (who am I even, saying that?!!). I’ll also put closer to half the batter on the bottom, so I can put a little more on top. So — what are you baking these days? I’m always up for trying new dishes! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/31/2161068/-Kos-Diabetes-Group-April-Raspberry-Cream-Cheese-Coffee-Cake-Edition Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/