So recently I've been attempting to stick to a low carb and low (or no) sugar diet due to health issues that seem to be exasperated by sugar and carbs. When you research these issues, it is so interesting how too many "white carbs" can be blamed for all kinds of things! We think of low carb as a diet choice to lose weight, or as something that is necessary for people with diabetes, but it goes beyond that. For me, carbs and sugar increase fatigue, and because I have Fibromyalgia, I have to do everything I can to combat fatigue issues. We all know that carbs and sugar have the tendency to make you tired - who hasn't heard of (or experienced) a "sugar crash?"
Well, following through on reducing things like bread and pasta has actually been much easier than I thought, and generally speaking going without sugar is not so difficult either. Where it has frustrated me, however, is in regards to baked goods. It's not that I eat a lot of baked goods or that I eat sweets every day. It's that I LOVE to bake! I think my previous posts on this blog will attest to the fact that I love to make food for other people, especially baked goodies! So I was faced with a difficulty - either figure out how to make baked goods that are lower in carbs and sugar - but still delicious - or never taste / sample what I bake! (Note that I did not believe an option would be to NOT bake!)
I've read cooking websites and diet websites and all kinds of blogs about various low carb options, and there really are lots of great looking recipes for all kinds of things out there. But I decided that rather than follow a recipe that is already labeled as "low carb" I wanted to figure out how to take a recipe that I already knew, used and loved, and make is low-carb-diet-friendly. Already being familiar with almond flour (see here) was a big help to this process because it turns out - almond flour is a great substitution!
I decided to make pound cake, because since it is already a "denser" cake, I thought the consistency wouldn't be as negatively affected by the switch to almond flour and the use of a sugar substitute. I started with the recipe for Cream Cheese Pound Cake out of my Southern Living Cookbook, and then made substitutions and adjustments to the ratios. I made it last weekend to take to a friend's house for dinner, and I think it turned out pretty tasty! So...
Here is my recipe for Low Carb / Low Sugar Cream Cheese Pound Cake:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
1.5 packages cream cheese, softened
1.5 cups of Splenda Blend*
6 large eggs
3 cups almond flour
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt & a pinch of baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of milk
*I used Splenda Blend, which means that this was "low sugar" rather than "sugar free." The next time I make it, I am going to use Stevia Extract instead and see how that turns out (I made a low sugar version of financiers at Christmastime for my family - who called them "fancy ears" and loved them - using Stevia Extract, which worked great!) If you choose a different type of sugar substitute - the original measurement of sugar for this recipe would be 3 cups, so use the guidelines on the package to figure out how much of the sugar substitute you should use.
Directions:
With an electric mixer, blend together the softened butter and cream cheese until it is creamy. Then add eggs, two at a time, blending after each addition until it is mixed it. Add salt, baking powder, and regular flour and blend until mixed in. Gradually add almond flour, one cup at a time, and blend. Note that almond flour is more "grainy" than regular flour, so don't expect it to be as smooth as it would be in a "normal" cake batter. Stir in vanilla and milk.
Preheat oven to 300 and prep a bundt cake pan. I used butter flavored Crisco to coat the inside of the pan. I think generally, almond flour sometimes sticks a little more, so be prepared for that. Spoon your batter into the bundt pan (my bundt pan was a little too small for this amount of batter, I put the extra into a loaf pan). Let it "settle" about 5 minutes before you put it into the oven. Bake at 300 for about 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool still in the pan on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes, then remove from the pan directly onto the rack and cool the rest of the way.
Enjoy!
