Happy birthday diabetic girlfriend cake

Doctor Blake Donaldson, who started treating obesity in 1919, had some pretty harsh advice to his diabetic patients: “You are out of your mind when you’re taking insulin in order to eat a Danish pastry.” On the long and short I agree with him, but exceptions must be made. One such occasion is my birthday. This year I woke up to find a delicious vanilla and berry cake in the fridge. As always it’s low carb, so two units of insulin did the trick for a generous slice. I’ve added a nutritional breakdown at the end of the page.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium-sized eggs
• 110g butter
• 60g coconut flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon protein powder (optional)
• 2 tablespoon erythritol (or another artificial sweetener)
• 100 ml water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 200ml whipping cream
• 60g 90% chocolate
• 100g raspberries
• 100g blueberries

The protein powder is optional, but it helps with the consistency of the cake, and extra protein is always good. Low carb cakes are always denser than normal cakes due to the lack of starch. We use tiny amounts of cornflour to get some fluffiness, adding more will lift your cake but it will also drive up the carb count.

Steps to make:

1. Make a sweet syrup from water and erythritol and whisk together with the eggs and vanilla extract.
2. Melt the butter and add it to the egg mixture. Make sure the butter is not too hot or you’ll scramble the eggs.
3. Mix together the dry ingredients: coconut flour, salt, baking soda, protein powder, and corn starch. Fold into the egg mixture and stir thoroughly.
4. Butter a baking tin and pour in the mixture. Bake in the oven on gas mark 6 (200 degrees Celsius) for 12-15 minutes.
5. Cool on a rack and cut I half into two half-moons. Note that this recipe is enough for a half-moon shaped cake, so if you want to go full circle you need to double up the ingredients.
6. Whip the cream very firm and melt the chocolate over a water bath. Mix half of the cream with the melted chocolate. Build a two-story cake and spread the chocolate ganache in the middle and on the top.
7. Finish off the cake with the remaining cream and berries on the top. Serve to your girlfriend and she will love you forever. If you’re planning a proposal, this would be a good time.

Make sure you give the cake enough time to cool down before decorating. I once had a big oops when I spread cream and chocolate ganache onto a cake that was still warm. The result, as well as my mood, was disastrous.