Sugar Free Lemon Drizzle Cake

Celebrating a birthday or simple want a sweet afternoon treat that won't spike your blood sugar? Please keep reading. 

This Lemon Drizzle Cake is sugar free so its the perfect option for diabetics, though this doesn't necessarily mean it's low in calories (it's crazy how many people seem to just make this assumption!). All things in moderation people!

I was hunting around for birthday cake recipe ideas for my Grandad (type 2 diabetes represent yo!) and came across this one on the BBC Good Foods site. It follows the basic formula for most cakes but replaces sugar with the sweetener Xylitol.

For those who don't know, xylitol is a sugar alcohol which is extracted from a range of plants including corn and birch bark. It has about 40% less calories that sugar (when compared teaspoon v teaspoon) but more importantly for the diabetic community it won't raise your blood sugar levels like the usual sweet stuff. If you don't particularly like this type of sweetener you could probably swap it for Natvia or whatever other type you prefer, just check the quantity conversion so you don't overload with sweetness!

I decided to swap the vegetable oil in the original recipe for grape seed oil and topped it with some cream cheese whipped with lemon juice and a little extra xylitol for sweetness. I then topped it all with some chopped pistachios and walnuts, lemon zest and some freeze-dried pomegranate seeds.

Let me know what you think!