‘Blue Christmas’ Sugarfree Lemon and Blueberry Tartlet Recipe from the Diabetic Pastry Chef

Over the past year we have shared healthy recipes, style and entertaining suggestions and diabetes care tips to help you embrace holiday celebrations without compromising your diabetes self-care.

We know many people in our Divabetic community don’t like to celebrate the holidays including Christmas Eve and Christmas because they feel they may disrupt their diabetes care. But with a little pre-planning and guidance from your healthcare entourage you can still enjoy the festivities without failing your diabetes.

Our good friend, Stacey Harris aka ‘The Diabetic Pastry Chef’ offers this Sugar-Free Lemon and Blueberry Tartlet recipe to add to your menu for ‘Blue Christmas’ Day celebration.

Long after singer Fats Domino found his thrill on Blueberry Hill, researchers have found some thrilling news about blueberries. These tiny berries may play a big role in helping manage diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), berries are a diabetes superfood because they’re packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber — plus, they’re low-GI. Three quarters of a cup of fresh blueberries has 62 calories and 16 grams (g) of carbohydrates. When you have diabetes, keep your blood sugar within a healthy range, thereby lowering your risk of certain diabetes complications, including diabetic retinopathy, or nerve damage; kidney disease; eyesight issues like glaucoma or cataracts; and serious life-threatening illnesses like heart disease and stroke.

Here’s Stacey Harris’ fabulous Sugar-free Lemon Blueberry Tartlets Recipe for you and your family to enjoy!

Curd Ingredients:

3 large eggs

½ to 3/4 cup Whey Low® Type D Granular

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 tbsp. grated lemon zest

1 pint blueberries, washed

Directions:

Whisk the eggs and Whey Low® Type D Granular until smooth in the top of a double boiler filled with water. Add the remaining ingredients except for the blueberries and cook over medium heat while whisking continuously. When the mixture resembles slightly whipped cream, remove from heat. Cover and stir frequently while it cools. Once cool, stir in the blueberries and refrigerate.

Note: Alternatively, after cooling, the curd can be mixed with an equal part of whipped cream before adding blueberries and refrigerating.

Pastry Ingredients:

3 tbsp raw sugar or Whey Low® Type D Granular, sifted

1 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour

¼ tsp salt

2/3 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp. ice water

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in butter with pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly like coarse meal. Add lemon juice and water and mix until a small ball can be formed. Gather mixture into a ball and flatten into a disk. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out on floured board. Cut into 12 5-inch rounds. Line 12 large muffin cups with the dough, prick the bottoms and sides of the dough with the tines of a fork. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden. Cool in pan and carefully remove. Fill each cup with the lemon-blueberry mixture and garnish each with a blueberry. Yield: 12 servings

Confused about Carbs? Our friend, registered dietitian, Jill Weisenberger, MS, RDN, CDE, CHWC, FAND shares her ‘7 Tips to Tricks to Carb Count Like a Pro’ on her blog. One of the tips we learned was that the total amount of carbohydrate matters so much more than the source of carbohydrate or the type of carbohydrate. READ MORE

When Stacey Harris aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef was studying to become a pastry chef, she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Rather than give up her chosen profession, she began creating more diabetic-friendly desserts. By using blended flours and a combination of sugar and sugar substitutes, reducing milk carbohydrates, and eliminating trans fats, Stacey Harris has transformed more than 200 desserts into diabetic-friendly delights

The Diabetic Pastry Chef’s cookbooks are filled with information on the definition, treatment, and prevention of diabetes and include complete nutritional information (calories, fat, cholesterol, sugars, and protein) for each recipe. She uses Splendar and presents other sugar-free alternatives for pancakes, muffins, cakes, cookies, and pies. Stacey Harris shares the sweet secrets of her simple-to-use formula that will convert most any recipe into a lower-carb alternative without compromising taste or quality. Now ‘divabetics’ can enjoy Chocolate Truffle Cookies, Blueberry Tartlets, Cream Cheese Cupcakes, Coffee Bread Pudding, and hundreds of others. BUY NOW

“In The Diabetic Pastry Chef, Stacey Harris proves you can prepare and eat wonderful food and still stay well within the guidelines of food for a person with diabetes.”—Alan L. Rubin, M.D., author of Diabetes for Dummies and Diabetes Cookbook for Dummies

On December’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast we’re celebrating a Blue Christmas. I chose this theme in December because ‘Blue’ is the color that I feel is most closely associated with diabetes and more importantly, it gives us an opportunity to raise awareness for the mental health issues related to diabetes. Guests include Chilbrook Kennels Breeder Author, Diabetes Alert Dog and Scent Detection Expert, Debby Kay, Poet Lorraine Brooks, Susan Weiner MS, RDN, CDE, CDN, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach featuring Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Rachel Zinman, Dr. Mandy Reece PharmD, CDE, BC-ADM, and America’s #1 Energy Conductor, High Voltage.

Throughout the podcast we will be featuring songs from the new “Christmas with Elvis and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra