Time for a treat

Time for a treat

I like baking but I hardly ever do it. Baking leads to baked products. And baked products lead to me eating baked products. I can’t afford to have biscuits, muffins and cakes hanging around the house, tempting me with their sweet goodness, willing me to snack on them at all hours. In the past I have been thinking about the fat, worried that all the butter in that chocolate cake was literally going straight to my thighs. But now, of course, I’m more interested in the sugar. Table, caster, brown, icing- it’s all the same when it comes from cane sugar, and all have fructose- about 50%. This, as I’m discovering, may not only be bad for me in many ways, but may also be addictive. Perhaps it’s not greed that brings me back for another cupcake, perhaps the fructose in them really is calling my name.

Anyway, with my fructose free status, if I want a sweet treat, I’ll have to do it ‘off the grid’ style, using something other than normal sugar as a sweetener. Dextrose (glucose) is available from the home brewing section of your local supermarket or store (I got mine from Big W). It looks like sugar and tastes (almost) like sugar, but has no fructose. Hurrah, dust off the muffin pans!

It’s not complicated to replace dextrose for sugar in baking- it seems to be just a straight 1:1 swap. A fellow fructose-free blogger mentions that things baked with dextrose seem to brown and potentially burn more easily. There is a technical, molecular reason for this, but the best explanation I could find (here, if you're interested) makes no sense to me- it basically says that things brown and burn more easily, which I already knew...The remedy is simple- keep an eye on it in the oven and reduce the heat or the baking time if needed.

I felt like trying coconut bread. I am not exactly craving sweet things (although the walk down the confectionary aisle at Coles is still a bit shaky and best avoided) but this is an old favourite which I haven’t had for years because, well, I was worried I would eat it all. It's not overly sweet even when made with sugar, but is hugely delicious.

I’m glad I chose this recipe which is the world’s EASIEST cake, great for a dextrose beginner and rusty baker like myself.

Fructose Free Coconut Bread

1 cup SR flour

1 cup desiccated coconut

½ cup dextrose

1 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together- nothing fancy, a wooden spoon will do. Pour into a greased loaf tin. Bake for about 30 mins at 170C (fan forced).

Here’s the result- hmm that browning thing was right, but it’s not too bad and didn’t affect the taste.

Serve slices warm with a bit of butter. Yummmm.

I made this on the weekend and it was lovely- I had a few slices :) But the thing is that I haven’t been back for more. It’s like the little part of me that went ‘hmm, treats in the kitchen, I’d better eat them’ has been turned off, or at least muffled. I’m liking the idea of treats being real treats and not an unbearable temptation. The great thing about this cake is that you can freeze it and then when you want a treat again, just heat a slice quickly in the microwave and it will be warm and delicious again. Thanks mum for remembering the recipe :)