I am stuck. My husband has to do the low carb, sugar free diet because of diabetes in is family and he gains weight just by looking at food. And I have to do gluten free in order to keep my weight on and my skin clear from the horrible rash from gluten. Any ideas for a valentines day desert? Especially one that is chocolate. I am a scratch baker and only know of chocolate cheese cake for both of us. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I value this site more than any other on the internet. I know I can trust all of you "kids". Thank you in advance.
The first thing that comes to mind is chocolate pudding. I'm thinking, that you could use plain unsweetened cocoa powder, pure Stevia powder, and guar gum. I've done this with carob, and the guar gum does give a very smooth pudding consistency. I used water for the liquid, but I suppose rice/nut/soy milk could work too. Stevia is zero carb, zero calories, and zero on the glycemic index.
I mixed the dry powders together, then added the water and stirred until it thickened. This does not require any heating, so it's quick to make too. Guar gum is a soluble fiber, so I'd have to think that suits the low carb requirement. One important thing to note about soluble fiber though, is that it tends to slow the passage of food through the intestines - opposite of insoluble fiber often used in laxatives. So not everyone will do well with it.
As I recall, the amount of guar gum was 1/4 to 1/2 tsp per cup, but you'll have to play with that. Put the finished dessert in the fridge to chill for say ten minutes, which should be long enough to allow it to thicken completely. It's easy to thin out if you need to. I don't recall much of a taste from the guar, but I may be more accustomed to it.
Now, the next thing that comes to mind is (if you can have soy) tofu and cocoa, Stevia, and a few other ingredients to make a chocolate cream pie sort of thing. Fava bean flour works good for pie crust, and it's relatively low in carbs as flours go.
I'm sure someone else will think of something better.
I mixed the dry powders together, then added the water and stirred until it thickened. This does not require any heating, so it's quick to make too. Guar gum is a soluble fiber, so I'd have to think that suits the low carb requirement. One important thing to note about soluble fiber though, is that it tends to slow the passage of food through the intestines - opposite of insoluble fiber often used in laxatives. So not everyone will do well with it.
As I recall, the amount of guar gum was 1/4 to 1/2 tsp per cup, but you'll have to play with that. Put the finished dessert in the fridge to chill for say ten minutes, which should be long enough to allow it to thicken completely. It's easy to thin out if you need to. I don't recall much of a taste from the guar, but I may be more accustomed to it.
Now, the next thing that comes to mind is (if you can have soy) tofu and cocoa, Stevia, and a few other ingredients to make a chocolate cream pie sort of thing. Fava bean flour works good for pie crust, and it's relatively low in carbs as flours go.
I'm sure someone else will think of something better.
How about chocolate Mousse.
Below is a receipe I found on the internet.
http://homecooking.about.com/od/dessertrec.../r/bldes187.htm
There's a ton of recipes here: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=217797
I did a "lower carb" flourless chocolate cake for NY eves that came out fabulous. I used unsweetened chocolate for 1/2 the chocolate and semi-sweet chips for the other half. Then I used some erythritol to sweeten (don't try splenda and chocolate, it doesn't work!). I'd love to try it again and use all unsweetened chocolate but my gut seems to be reacting badly to chocolate now.
Here's the recipe I based my cake on. Oh yeah, the raspberry sauce was utterly awesome. You can sweeten it with splenda or just leave it unsweetened if the raspberries are sweet enough already.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/754
A lot of low carb cooks use nut crusts for their cheesecakes.
I did a "lower carb" flourless chocolate cake for NY eves that came out fabulous. I used unsweetened chocolate for 1/2 the chocolate and semi-sweet chips for the other half. Then I used some erythritol to sweeten (don't try splenda and chocolate, it doesn't work!). I'd love to try it again and use all unsweetened chocolate but my gut seems to be reacting badly to chocolate now.
Here's the recipe I based my cake on. Oh yeah, the raspberry sauce was utterly awesome. You can sweeten it with splenda or just leave it unsweetened if the raspberries are sweet enough already.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/754
A lot of low carb cooks use nut crusts for their cheesecakes.
Thank you for giving me more ideas. I tried the flourless cake and frosted it with chocolate whipped cream. Then I cut strawberries into heart shapes for the top. Man was that good. A big hit with my low carb man. I'm going to try the other two this weekend.