Baking with stevia – lemon and raspberry cheesecake-type thing

Prompted by a friend’s Facebook post, I said that I would try to bake a dessert containing flax seeds that was low on the glycemic index. They said they could not have dates, bananas or oats as these cause spikes in their blood sugar levels, obviously sugar, maple syrup, agave etc. are not welcome either, but some berries seem to be okay.

This is my first attempt at baking with alternative sweeteners – although the stevia I bought is bulked out with maltodextrin which I don’t think is great for diabetics, I do know that you can buy liquid stevia which is basically just extract of the plant and should have no effect on blood sugar, and I will try using some of that in my next attempt.

Close-up of square slice of pale pink dessert on beige coloured almond-flax biscuit base, presented on a bamboo cutting board. The background shows a section of the dessert in its Pyrex baking dish.

To be honest, this is not too bad (I’m really pleased with the texture!), but the sweetness levels need some work, maybe a bit of a different kind of sweetener in addition to the stevia, it tastes good at first bite but then it’s got that sort of disappointing “thin” taste that artificial sweeteners always have for me. However, for the record here it is…

Recipe

For the base

1 cup flaked almonds

2 Tbs flax seeds

1 tsp ground ginger

1 Tbs stevia (I’m using Morrisons powdered stevia, which claims 1 spoonful = a spoonful of sugar in terms of sweetness)

I Tbs oil

1.5 Tbs water

pinch salt

Method: grind almonds and flax seeds in blender/food processor until breadcrumby (I used the dry container for the vitamix), add the ginger, salt and stevia and pulse to mix, tip into baking dish (I used a small pyrex dish, 0.8litres?), add water to form dough, add oil when you realise dough is way too sticky to handle. Press into bottom of pan with greased fingers, bake at 200c (180 if you have fan assist) for 15 minutes.

Filling:

medium-firm tofu, about 2 cups/350-400g (I get Tofu King that comes in 3 blocks in water and claims to be 600g tofu, I just used 2 of the blocks) – you can drain the water off but don’t press it, in this instance a bit of extra liquid is fine.

1/4 cup Stevia (or more – depending on how much you can stand the taste of stevia!)

1 lemon, unwaxed – zest and juice

1/2 cup raspberries (I only had frozen, just bunged them in as I was blending)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbs vegetable oil (I used rapeseed/canola)

1/2 cup cashews

pinch salt

Method: put the tofu in a blender. zest the lemon into the blender, juice the lemon and add to blender. Blend until it is the consistency of yogurt.

Add in the cashews (you may need to boil/soak/preblend them so they will get nice and smooth if you don’t have a powerful blender), oil, vanilla and salt and blend for a minute or so. Add in the raspberries. Blend until the filling is a uniform colour. It should be smooth and the consistency of a thick custard pudding. Pour the filling mix over the baked crust – the top will keep a bit of the impression of rivulets when it is poured over the crust rather than completely leveling out  (what I think this is known as ribbon stage in baking?).

Bake at 45 minutes at 160c then just leave it to cool in the oven with the door closed for about an hour, then cover and chill before slicing.

Liddle dogs

Ahoy hoy! We got some little rescue dogs from Loughborough Dogs Trust (almost a year ago!).

They have been wonderful for getting us out and about in the parks of Leicester, and I have also got into making homemade baked treats for them.

The basic crunchy treat formula is something like 2/5 oat flour, 2/5 self raising wheat flour and 1/5 flavourings and seeds and nuts (e.g.  mixed herbs, flax seeds and peanut butter), with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast. I bake them at a medium high temp for about 15 minutes, then cut them into little squares and slow bake them for another half hour or so to make tiny savoury rusk type things. I thought I might revive this blog to keep a more accurate record instead of just throwing the latest thing I bought in (today, hazelnuts and lentils!).