h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just sent you an email, hope you still have the gte.net address....

Thanks for writing back, but I'm bumping this thread back up to the top again, because apparently you missed part of the email. So I'll copy it here for you:


By the way, how are the sugar free cake recipes going? I could go for
> something chocolate... And it doesn't need to actually be sweet. In
fact
> the stronger the chocolate flavor is, the better. I've been messing
> around with cocoa powder and stevia a little, but my efforts aren't very
> good yet. Although the last time I tried to make something it turned out a
> little better - just peanut butter (Arrowhead mills - no sweeteners, no
> salt), cocoa powder, some vanilla, a little milk to help mix it, and a
> little stevia to cut the bitterness of the cocoa powder. Turned out sort
> of fudge-like, but not quite.

Sorry, I got your email very late last night, and I was just too tired to include recipes.

My basic batter mix, around which I plan all my recipes, consists of:

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground oats (or oat flour)
1/3 cup cornmeal
2 tbsp garbanzo flour
2 tsps peanuts, ground
1 tsp sunflour seeds, ground
1/4 cup dry milk powder
2 tsps baking powder

1 cup apple juice or orange juice, or other liquid depending on specific recipe

I experiemnted with a lot of different combinations of flours, looking for something that would taste good and have some variety and extra protein. Protein matters, even in snacks and desserts. Studies have shown that not getting enough protein in your meals stimulates extra insulin. Not everyone has access to garbanzo flour, though, and some people would rather not have corn flour in everything. If you'd rather go with rye flour, you can substitute it for the cornmeal.

The individual recipes will be done one per post.

APPLESAUCE COCOA CAKE

Dry ingredients:

Basic batter mix
1/3 cup cocoa (or to taste)
1/4 tsp each: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves
3/4 cup raisins

Wet ingredients:

1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup apple juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

DELUXE CHOCOLATE CAKE

(Note: this was devilishly hard to get sweet enough. I have found that with any of these recipes, it's best to spread a little margarine on each slice, to help compensate for the loss of sweetness)

Dry ingredients:

Basic batter mix
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup dried currants (raisins may be used instead)
3 diced dried apricots

Wet ingredients:

1/2 sweet potato or yam, put through blender with
1 cup apple juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

BANANA ORANGE CAKE

Dry ingredients:

Standard batter mix
2 tsp pumpkin-pie spices
1/2 cup dried currants (raisins are okay, though not as good)

Wet ingredients:

1 banana, put through blender with:
1 cup orange juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

PEPPERNUT TEA BREAD

(I based this loosely on a recipe that I got on the Internet)

Dry ingredients:

Basic batter mix
1/2 tsp nutmet
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp anise seeds, ground
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp slivered almonds (may be added as is, or ground in blender)
1/2 cup raisins

Wet ingredients:

1 cup apple butter, or apple sauce, or apple juice
(I don't remember which I used. May be a blend of 2 of them)
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

MOCK PUMPKIN CAKE

(Of all the recipes, this is my favorite, though it can get a bit moist)

Dry ingredients:

Basic batter mix
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
2/3 cup raisins

Wet ingredients:

1 diced sweet potato or yam, put through blender with:
1/2 cup applesauce
2/3 cup apple juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

APPLE-ORANGE CAKE

Dry ingredients:

Standard batter mix
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup raisins

Wet ingredients:

3 apples, cored but not peeled. Dice, and put through blender with:
3/4 cup orange juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

BANANA GINGERBREAD

Dry ingredients:

Standard batter mix
1/2 cup raisins
1.5 tsps ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves

Wet ingredients:

1 banana, put through blender with:
3/4/ cup apple juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

CRANBERRY-APPLESAUCE CAKE

(Cranberries are so sour that it takes a lot of ingenuity to get this recipe sweet enough to be bearable. The raisins help a lot)

Dry ingredients:

Standard batter mix
1/2 cup raisins

Wet ingredients:

2/3 cup cranberries, put through blender with:
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup apple juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

APPLESAUCE GINGERBREAD

Dry ingredients:

Standard batter mix
1/2 cup currants (raisins work just as well)
1.5 tsps ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
3 dried apricots, diced

Wet ingredients:

1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup apple juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

APRICOT BREAD

Dry ingredients:

Basic batter mix
7 or 8 dried apricots, cut in tiny pieces

Wet ingredients:

1 cup orange juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

PEACH SPICE CAKE

(This recipe is ideal when fresh local peaches are in season )

Dry ingredients:

Standard batter mix
1/4 tsp each: ginger, nutmeg, cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins

Wet ingredients:

3 or 4 peaches (sliced but not peeled), put through blender with:
2/3 cup apple juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

BANANA-CRANBERRY (OR CURRANT) CAKE

(I can't remember whether I put the cranberries in whole, or pureed them with the banana)

Dry ingredients:

Basic batter mix
1/2 cup raisins

Wet ingredients:

up to a cup of cranberries
1 banana, put through blender with:
1/2 cup apple juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

THE BEST CARROT CAKE

(I had to experiment a lot to get this. It's not perfect, but it's the best till a better one comes along)

Dry ingredients:

Basic batter mix
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
2/3 cup raisins

Wet ingredients:

1 cup diced carrot sticks, put through blender with:
1 and 1/3 cups or orange juice
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

STRAWBERRY-BANANA CAKE

(I wrote the word "delicious" at the top of this recipe, so it must have been good. I used 8 oz. frozen strawberries, but you can use the equivalent amount of fresh ones)

Dry ingredients:

Standard batter mix
1 tsp lemon peel

Wet ingredients:

1 banana, put through blender with:
8 oz strawberries
2/3 cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

CRANBERRY YAM BREAD

(I adapted this from a recipe at www.dianasdesserts.com
I don't think it much matters whether you are using yams or sweet potatoes. The local supermarket lumps them all in together anyway, and I haven't figured out which is which .)

Dry ingredients:

Standard batter mix
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 cup "chopped" cranberries

Wet ingredients:

about a cup of diced yam or sweet potato, put through blender with:
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet ingredients together
Combine dry with wet
Put in greased loaf pan
Stick in toaster oven or other oven
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done

MAKING COBBLERS THE EASY WAY

The basic batter mix started out as a cobbler topping, and I still use it that way sometimes when I feel like having blueberry or peach cobbler. I usually keep frozen blueberries and /or strawberries on hand. While I'm mixing the basic batter mix (for which I would use apple juice or orange juice as the liquid ingredient), I put the toaster oven at 350 degrees and let the berries thaw in a greased loafpan inside. By the time the cobbler topping is ready, the berries have thawed a bit, and there's some juice around them. Just put the topping on, and bake for 350 minutes at 60 degrees. (Oops! I mean bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes )

I really haven't tried to do anything fancy with these recipes. No separating of eggs, no exotic ingredients that you can hardly afford (though some of the spices can be a bit pricey, and vanilla is extremely so). One advantage to baking without sugar is that the tops of my cakes don't burn as readily.

Thanks, Paul!

I may still need to cut down on some of the juices and fruit in the recipes, because of how sweet all that would make them, since I'm assuming you've made things about as sweet as they'd be if they were made with sugar.