We rarely eat anything sweet, and we don’t usually publish recipes with sweeteners of any sort. But sometimes you have to make exceptions. Valentine’s Day is one of those times.
If you’re going to celebrate Valentine’s Day with chocolate, there are ways to do it that shouldn’t make your blood sugar soar. You can eat dark chocolate (over 70% cacao). We plan to be fancy this year, and make a few recipes by our favorite low carb baker, Carolyn Ketchum, who writes the blog All Day I Dream About Food.
Carolyn was diagnosed with pre-diabetes a few years ago. In an essay for ASweetLife she wrote, “Diabetes has altered my relationship with food in a way I never anticipated. Having to think about what I put in my mouth every single time I eat is something I am still not used to doing. Sometimes I resent it immensely. But I also know that there are many good things that have come out of it. At 38-years-old, I am in better shape than I have ever been in my life and have discovered a love and talent for running, an exercise I previously detested. I am far more conscious of what my whole family eats, everyone’s diet has improved, and I have become a better baker.”
We would say Carolyn has become an exceptional baker. You won’t believe her recipes are low carb. And they aren’t just delicious, she gets the textures right, too. For sweeteners, Carolyn uses stevia and erythritol, a naturally occurring substance found in fruits and fermented foods.
Take a look at these recipes and at Carolyn’s fantastic photos. Irresistible, we think!
Flourless Chocolate Cakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache
These are incredibly rich, dense morsels of an almost fudge-like consistency. They are small, to be sure, but you really don’t want them to be any bigger.
Molten Chocolate Cakes
These cakes taste as good as they look and I think that’s saying a lot. Deep and chocolatey, with a gooey, melted center that pours out when you break it open. Can you ask any more of a molten chocolate cake?
Tiramisu Chocolate Cups
This really is a lovely, elegant little dessert. Mascarpone has such wonderful flavor on its own, so you can keep the sweetener at a minimum to allow that to come through. The coffee flavoring is present without being overpowering, and the toasted almonds add a nice textural difference to the cheese and the chocolate.
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles
Cookie-dough truffles are all the rage these days, so why not a low carb, gluten free version? These are excellent and fairly easy to make. You don’t need to be low carb or gluten free to appreciate them.
Homemade Nutella Truffles
Too much sugar in Nutella? No worries! Carolyn has a recipe for low carb homemade Nutella.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
It would be nice if you would include the total carb count for the molten chocolate cakes. I would love to try them but can’t because I am on a very limited low carb diet (60 carbs per day per my doctor). Have been on the diet since Christmas and thought I could incoporate a dessert in at the end of every month.