#lesssugar

Cupcakes You Can Enjoy While You Have Gestational Diabetes!

by Jen

In 2012 I took the gestational diabetes test and was shocked to find out my glucose levels indicated I had it. My immediate reaction was embarrassment, shame, and I took it very personally. I felt I had a pretty healthy pregnancy and ate well; I went to yoga twice a week and zumba classes. I walked everywhere. I really didn’t understand why I had it, and thought I had done something wrong. My midwife talked to me and assured me that it was all hormonal and that it would pass after the baby was born. The gestational diabetes clinic I went to in Vancouver was friendly and I remember being shocked, jealous and a little judgy about the other patients who showed up with their venti caramel mocha frappuccinos, while I drank 3 litres of water every day. Lucky for me I did not really have any cravings and was happy to just have water as long as it was cold with ice in it.

I managed my GD with exercise and diet. After eating I’d go for a walk or have dance parties with my baby belly in my living room. Exercise during pregnancy is so important but even more so if you are trying to keep your glucose levels normal. Dancing lifts your spirits too, which releases oxytocin so I highly recommend it, even if you don’t have GD... or even if you're not pregnant yet, for that matter!  My numbers stayed low enough, for the doctor to dismiss me from the clinic, but I kept the kit to keep checking my numbers. I was still obsessed with tracking my sugars after meals, and it was really important to me.

For my baby shower I really wanted to have some desserts for my guests, but it had to be low sugar so that I could indulge too. I had already done a lot of trial and error baking with several different types of flours over the past few years, and so I was getting accustomed with how to create my own recipes, in particular with coconut flour. The secret here would be to find a middle ground of yummy, and chocolatey but not too healthy tasting! These are supposed to be celebratory cupcakes, after all, not carrot sticks.

You can bring these cupcakes with you to any functions to share, and this way you won’t feel left out on treating yo’self. It’s also great to have a dessert while knowing exactly what ingredients go into them.

Here’s what you need to create your tasty treat:

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup 100% raw cacao powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

6 eggs

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 jar 100% fruit spread

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Line muffin tin with cupcake papers

Combine first four ingredients in a small bowl

Beat eggs, olive oil and applesauce together

Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients

Fill the cupcake holders about half full

And put in the oven

Set a timer for 10 minutes.

When the timer goes off, take the cupcakes out and scoop a small teaspoon of the fruit jam into the middle of each cupcake. Put the tray back in the oven and set your timer for another ten minutes

When they are done, you can either eat them as they are or put another dollop of jam on top of them.

Now, while these cupcakes do not have a massive heap of icing on them, and this is exactly how I served them, I later discovered coconut milk icing which is sooooooooo delicious and easy to make. This is a nice option to have for your guests if you like. To be honest, this recipe is so amazing, I make this icing for every dessert I ever make.

Put a can of coconut milk in the freezer overnight.

When you open the can, scoop the thick cream out and discard the water. My fave coconut milk to use is Aroy-D. Add half a tsp of vanilla extract and use beaters to beat it into fluffy icing. You can use confectioners icing sugar to thicken it if you want, (start with a quarter cup. Just be aware of the extra sugar content you are adding to your dessert. You can easily make powdered sugar by pulsing granulated maple sugar or coconut sugar if you prefer in the food processor until it's a fine powder, but just remember it will change the colour of your icing. Add a bit of food colouring if you’d like to make them fancy. (this is where it makes a difference if you use coconut sugar or confectioners sugar.) Only use coconut icing on cooled desserts as it melts easily.

I hope you enjoy this dessert as much as I did. I’ve even made these for my daughter when she’s requested a treat but I don’t want her to have too much sugar. If you have gestational diabetes, first, don’t be hard on yourself!! Remember you have done nothing wrong to get this diagnosis. Now take your baby belly for a power walk or crank this song up and dance your freakin face off!! This is the awesome song I grooved to while pregnant... Enjoy, and don’t forget to drink lots of water every day!

Here is the link for the song I mention, if you choose to keep it

https://www.google.ca/search?q=rug+rippin&oq=rug+rippin&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l2.2878j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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