From www.lookitcookit.tumblr.com
The question I’m asking is: how can we avoid succumbing to eating sugary cakes?
Dr. Sally Norton, an NHS weight loss consultant has several suggestions for some things to take your mind off that sweet sugar rush (the first 4 are hers, the last is mine):
Grapefruit may help in lowering insulin levels
Allow yourself a small treat - a glass of wine or chocolate (but small is the word)
Munching mindlessly in front of TV or screens makes you gain unnecessary pounds
Put grapes in the freezer - you have to eat them slowly
Keep a plate of raw vegetables in the fridge: cucumber, carrot and celery sticks, pieces of raw cauliflower will take your mind off reaching for the biscuit tin.
(these photos don’t of course show the bits of vegetables I describe above, but they do look pretty!)
Back to cakes. Scientists seem to have come up with the perfect recipe for healthy cakes. The sugar content of British chocolate bars and biscuits could fall by 40% without affecting the flavour or the need for artificial sweeteners. This is being made possible by an Israel company called DouxMatok (the words meaning sweet both in French and Hebrew). I won’t go into the science behind their invention but they are planning to work in the UK and Europe showing manufacturers how to adjust recipes to drastically lower the sugar content.
The bowl in the photo at the top contains the mixture for ginger cake (shown here) - also known as honey cake. It’s easy to make; not quite as simple as the all-in-one-bowl method, but next best thing as the dry ingredients and spice are simply combined with sugar, golden syrup and butter which are melted first.
The cake is deliciously dark and sweet, with the flavour of dried ginger and a slightly sticky texture. I also make it into muffins by just pouring the mixture into paper cases in a muffin tin, instead of waiting longer for it to cook in a loaf pan.
One home-made muffin like this with a cup of tea isn’t nearly as laden with calories as the much larger ones you buy in high street coffee shops.