I’m a little obsessed with mug cakes right now. I don’t need the temptation of an entire cake sitting in the kitchen, so it’s nice to be able to make a single serving as an occasional treat, which I felt like I needed during the kids’ naptime today, so I made this: https://elanaspantry.com/paleo-mug-cake/
It was so good! With the ingredients I used, it came out to 22g carbs, but it really makes enough to be cut in half into 2 cupcake sized servings (but I ate the whole thing I’d already bolused for it, so I HAD to, you know). I added Simple Mills chocolate frosting on top, which is 3.5g carbs/tablespoon. Next time, I’ll probably split it with my husband, which will be 14.5g carbs for each of us (with a tablespoon of frosting each). It would obviously be an even lower carb count if you used an alternative sweetener.
I don’t know if they’re low-carb, but I make these Vongerichten molten chocolate cakes all the time, and I don’t think they have much more than 22 grams of carbs. They’re each the size of a ramekin, which is perfect for an individual serving. I vaguely remember that you might have Celiac’s though; not sure whether you could replace the wheat flour with something else…there’s really very little flour in it total but it may play a crucial role in the dessert’s structural integrity.
We’ve basically found that most desserts, if you just decrease the sugar a little and serve smaller portions, can easily be about 20 g per serving, possibly you can make it even less.
I LOVE the idea! It is great to be able to just do a tiny little cake at a time, so you can’t abuse it
I am thinking of testing the same recipe (tonight if we have the ingredients), replacing the maple syrup by a very tiny bit of dark honey for taste and some splenda for sweetness, to see if I can lower the carb count.
I’d love to hear how it turns out! I used agave syrup instead of maple (we’re out of maple syrup, somehow!), so I’m sure it was missing some of that rich maple-y flavor. I have to admit, I’ve never heard of dark honey.
I can’t access the recipe without a login, apparently, but it sounds good! I actually have never tried a molten cake - one of those things I hadn’t gotten around to before my celiac diagnosis - but now I’m going to try to find a GF recipe!
Oops, forgot to mention I just nuked it for 50 seconds in the microwave. It probably will be even better cooked in the oven, though.
You’re not the first person who’s talked about dosing for carbs - 1/2 the fiber. I always dose for total carbs; haven’t ever tried subtracting fiber - is that another YDMV kind of thing, or is it a general rule of thumb?
My attempt was not quite successful: I left it a little too long in the oven ,so it was too dry, and 2 packets of Splenda are definitely not sweet enough!
But it is really promising! Next time, I’ll try nuking it as suggested by @Pianoplayer7008, and I’ll use 4 packets of Splenda.
Sorry it was dry. And it’s hard to get those sweetener ratios right…even just adjusting down the amount of sugar in recipes is tricky to me, especially with cocoa and how bitter it can be! I hope next time is more successful.
WE never dose for the fiber. Theoretically, fiber is not absorbed and doesn’t become sugar, so if you’re eating enough of it, you would wind up with higher dosages than you need based on the total carb count.
Our endo initially started us out just dosing for the total carbs, but somehow I think that was just out of convenience; both because most people eat negligible amounts of fiber and because a lot of people are not capable of subtracting somehow?
If you do try the GF version of a molten cake let me know how it turns out, I found another very similar recipe here, which is gluten free. Seems like someone just used rice flour. I think the level of “molten” is one of personal preference. I am a fan of a gooey center but my kids basically prefer it all done.
That makes sense. I guess I’ve just been fortunate in that meals where there’s been enough fiber to subtract, I just stay flat instead of going low (like this morning - started at 80 and have only gone up to 86, despite my almond flour pancakes having sugar, chocolate chips, berries, etc). I’ll have to watch more closely when I eventually get my CGM to get a better idea of how my BG reacts in those situations.
That recipe looks delicious! I’ve got to experiment to get a gluten free, dairy free, light-on-the-eggs, light-on-the-sugar recipe for mine and baby’s needs.
I microwave - once I used the pot-in-pot method in my instant pot, which made it a little more moist, but wasn’t worth it to me for the extra time. For me a big part of the lure is the one minute microwave time!
I’d already bolused for it, so I HAD to, you know). I added Simple Mills chocolate frosting on top, which is 3.5g carbs/tablespoon. Next time, I’ll probably split it with my husband, which will be 14.5g carbs for each of us (with a tablespoon of frosting each). It would obviously be an even lower carb count if you used an alternative sweetener.
It probably will be even better cooked in the oven, though.