Diabetic Pastry Chef’s Sugar-Free Apricot Brandy Pound Cake Recipe

Living with Type 2 diabetes doesn’t compromise the Diabetic Pastry Chef, Stacey Harris’s creativity in the kitchen. After attending culinary school, Stacey taught herself how to make pound cake, pecan rolls, pies, muffins, cupcakes, and other baked goods with about half the carbohydrates in traditional bakery items. 

If you’re feeling deprived of your favorite holiday treats because you’re living with diabetes, then check out this new recipe from our friend, Stacey. 

From her tasty treats to her outlook on life, this pastry chef keeps things as sweet as can be as well as … sugar-free!

Diabetic Pastry Chef’s Holiday Recipe

Diabetic Pastry Chef‘s Sugar-Free Apricot Brandy Pound Cake Recipe

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups butter, softened

3 cups sugar-substitute of your choice

6 eggs

1 tsp orange extract

1 tsp lemon extract

1 tsp almond extract

1/4 cup apricot brandy

3 cups cake flour, sifted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube cake or bundt pan. Cream butter and gradually add sugar substitute. Continue creaming until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Blend in extracts and brandy. Gradually add the flour and beat until smooth.

Pour the cake batter into the tube pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean and the edges of the cake have come away from the sides of the pan. Cool for 20 minutes in the pan before unmolding. Cool completely. Add glaze and arrange apricots and mint on top.

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar-free apricot preserves

1Tbsp. apricot brandy or leftover apricot nectar from the can

1 8-ounce can of apricot halves, drained

fresh mint for garnishing

Directions

Heat the apricot preserves until melted. Remove from heat and stir in brandy or nectar. Spread the warm glaze over the cake and sides. Garnish with the apricot halves, which can also be glazed, and garnish with the mint. Enjoy

Stacey Notes for the Best Results:

This recipe is revised from an old Ebony magazine recipe. It is a showstopper! It works well for holidays. I have made it as is. I have also made it using canola butter in place of whole butter. I have successfully made the cake by cutting the butter to 1 cup and adding 1/2 cup sour cream. I suppose yogurt would also work in place of the sour cream. You can read more about Stacey’s experience making her Sugar-Free Apricot Brandy Pound Cake recipe on her blog.

I generally mix my sugar substitutes to get the best flavor, baking properties, and health results. For this cake, I used 1 cup of Splenda, 1 cup of Stevia in the Raw, and 1 cup of Whey Low. Do not try to use Splenda alone unless you’re using Splenda for Baking.

If you’re interested in making over one of your holiday specialties with sugar substitutes, Stacey recommends using a blend of sugar substitutes in your recipe rather than just one for the best results. 

Salted Caramel Banana Bars Recipe by Splenda

Enjoy this decadent dessert recipe from our friends at Splenda. This recipe contains US Splenda Stevia Granulated Sweetener and Splenda Sweetened Condensed Milk.

Splenda offers a U.S.-grown stevia sweetener made with simple ingredients that can replace added sugar in all your favorite foods and drinks.

Splenda Sweetened Condensed Milk is a sweet and creamy ingredient with no added sugar and 35% fewer calories than leading brands. It can be used in fudge, pumpkin pie, and coffee recipes.

Salted Caramel Banana Bars Recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons plant-based butter spread or margarine

Get Full Recipe

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a bowl, beat together butter and Splenda Stevia Sweetener until smooth. Beat in egg until fully combined. Then, beat in yogurt and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients (the mixture may be dry), then fold in mashed banana.

Double Crust Peach Cobbler Recipe by Splenda

Splenda Baking Kits are just one of the many wonderful prizes you can win when you join us for Divabetic’s free Baking Parties with the Diabetic Pastry Chef on Zoom.

Our recent winner, Anita W. from Buffalo, NY found some inspiration along with a rolling pin, apron, measuring cups, and various Splenda products in her Splenda Baking Kit! She wrote back to us, “I received the prize and I loved all of it. I made some peanut butter cookies with the Splenda and the cookie cutter.”

Double Crust Peach Cobbler Recipe by Splenda

Ingredients

1 box of refrigerated pie crusts, softened

10 cups sliced fresh peaches

1 3/4 cups Splenda Granulated Sweetener

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup pineapple juice

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly spray an 11” x 7” baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Unroll one piecrust; roll out and trim to an 11” x 7” rectangle. Place in prepared baking dish. Bake for 10–12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Click HERE for the full recipe

Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?

Back by popular demand! The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Baking Party with our special guest, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.

REGISTER NOW

 

Gingerbread Cake Squares Recipe by The Diabetic Pastry Chef 

After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Stacey Harris (The Diabetic Pastry Chef) taught herself how to make pound cake, pecan rolls, pies, muffins, cupcakes, and other baked goods with about half the carbs you’d get from a traditional bakery item.

“I started experimenting by using almond milk or whole milk mixed with water to cut down on carbs, then tried different flours, incorporating white whole wheat flour, soy flour, oat flour, black bean flour, and other alternatives into my brownies, cakes, and cookies,” she said in an How 2 Type 2 article.

She adds,”To cut back on sugar, I started using all-natural substitutes, like agave nectar, and trying erythritol. I also bake with a store-bought blend of sugars that tastes delicious.”

Below is The Diabetic Pastry Chef’s Gingerbread Cake Squares recipe, enjoy!

Gingerbread Cake Squares Recipe by The Diabetic Pastry Chef 

Ingredients

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar or 1/2 cup Splenda For Baking

1/2 cup molasses

3/4 cup melted butter or melted Smart Balance regular spread

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup boiling water

Directions:

Beat eggs. Blend in sugar or Splenda, molasses, and melted butter or spread. In separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Alternate adding flour mixture with boiling water to batter, and beat until smooth.

Pour batter into a greased 9-inch square baking pan, or into greased square or round muffin tins. Bake 30 to 40 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cut  gingerbread in pan into 18 slices. Serve warm or at room temperature topped with whipped cream.  Yield: 18 servings.

Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?

Join the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic for this free, fun Virtual Baking Party with special guest, Stacey Harris aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef in 2021 on Zoom.

During our virtual Baking Party on Zoom, The Diabetic Pastry Chef will prepare a Sugar Free Holiday Dessert recipe and share expert baking tips for using sugar substitutes in your favorite recipes.

REGISTER NOW – FREE REGISTRATION 

The Diabetic Pastry Chef shares her recipes in a fabulous book so that people with type 2 diabetes and others looking for sugar-free treats can make their own lower-carb versions of baked goods at home. She also started her own online bakery that ships homemade treats all across the country. The most common thing she hears from customers is, “I don’t even miss the extra sugar!”

Sugar Free Pumpkin Crumble Cheesecake Recipe by Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic’

We’re less than a month away from the premiere of Divabetic’s Mystery Podcast, Kill Me Madam, on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 6 PM, EST.  In the spirit of our upcoming culinary caper, our friend, Chef Robert aka The Happy Diabetic, who has appeared on several mystery podcasts, shares this delicous, healthy sugarfree cheesecake recipe with you!

Pumpkin Crumble Cheesecake Recipe by Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic’

Ingredients: 

Cake Ingredients:

3 – 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend

2 T. Splenda Naturals®

3 large eggs

1 t. almond extract

1 – 15 oz. can pumpkin

½ cup vanilla Greek yogurt

2 T. almond flour

1 ½ t. ground cinnamon

½ t. ground ginger

1 t. imitation maple flavoring

2 t. vanilla extract

Crumble Topping Ingredients:

1 cup almond flour

2 T. chilled butter

½ t. vanilla

4 T. SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring form pan with non-stick cooking spray. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend, and Splenda Naturals® until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in pumpkin, yogurt, almond flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, maple flavoring, and vanilla. Pour filling into prepared pan. Mix the topping ingredients by hand or in a food processor until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of cheesecake. Bake until firm, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from oven and run a butter knife around the inner edge but do not remove the pan side. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Refrigerate.

Servings/Yield: 16 servings

Nutritional Information (Pre Serving): Calories: 312, Total Fat: 21.68g, Cholesterol: 77mg, Sodium: 336 mg, Total Carbs: 17.71g, Dietary Fiber: 3.09g, Sugars: 4.20g, Protein: 8.13g

Chef Robert Lewis, The Happy Diabetic, is a nationally recognized author and motivational speaker who is passionate about helping people learn to live a healthier lifestyle. Chef Lewis graduated from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in 1976. He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1998. Thus began his motivation to create great tasting dishes that are easy to prepare. He travels the country speaking on the benefits of healthy eating not only for people affected by diabetes, but also for anyone who would like to eat and live a healthy lifestyle. 

Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?

Join the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic for this free, fun Virtual Cooking Party with special guest Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic’ on Thursday, August 13, 2020, 7 – 7:40 PM, EST on Zoom.

Having diabetes doesn’t mean you need to deny yourself all the foods you love, but you do want to make healthier food choices. One good choice is to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, which are heavy in nutrition but light in calories.

During this virtual Cooking Party on Zoom,Chef Robert Lewis will prepare a recipe that won’t compromise your diabetes wellness.

REGISTER NOW – IT’S FREE

Enjoy Divabetic’s 10th Year Podcast Anniversary Special with music from the world’s most famous “Divabetic”– Ms. Patti LaBelle. She’s encouraging you to have a ‘NEW ATTITUDE’ about living with diabetes! Guests include: Patricia Addie-Gentle, RN, CDE, Dr. Andrea Chisholm OB-GYN, Luther McRae, Mama Rose Marie, Susan Weiner MS, RDN, CDE, CDN, Dr. Beverly S. Adler PhD, CDE, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Seveda Williams and Terri Seidman.

 

There’s a good indication that murder might be part of the recipe when Nantucket’s ten time reigning Baking Champion’s last name is ‘Coffin’. But resentment, greed and Britannia’s own bad dealings turn everyone into a suspect when she’s found dead in the parking lot just before the Annual Decadents on Deck! Bake Off competition is about to kick off.

Delusional baker and amateur sleuth Mr. Divabetic is even shocked to find himself being treated as a suspect in the case by the local police, after meeting her just once!

As if his life wasn’t crazy enough before, escaping a murderous mishap in New York and attempting a fresh start in Nantucket has turned into a complete and utter baking disaster, now Max, along with his friends and nosy mother, have to add tracking down a murderer to his To-Do list, as well.

Can our team hunt down the real murderer before they strike again? Will he become the next victim? Can Max ever manage to bake a cake that’s actually edible?

Divabetic’s Mystery podcast cast includes Tonya Kappes, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, MaryAnn Horst-Nicolay MEd, NDRT, Catherine Schuller, Wendy Radford, Mama Rose Marie, Seveda Williams, and Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek. Produced by Leisa Chester-Weir.

Throughout the  podcast we will be featuring music from the Broadway Cast Album of ‘Call Me Madam’ courtesy of SONY Music.