Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

I have been asked to make a cake that needs to be sugar and gluten free. It will be a sculpted 3D cake so I will definitely need the stability of ganache or similar as this is what i’m used to using… (I haven’t confirmed I can make this yet, just trying to find some answers first!)

1. The cake mix (chocolate preferred)?
2. Filling/frosting needs to be stable like ganache rather than buttercream consistency
3. Fondant??? This would have to be decorated in fondant, as it needs to be very detailed. Is sugar free fondant a possibility?! Otherwise I presume she could pick off decorations to eat…

Please can anyone help?

Many thanks

Hi goldengoos25

I’ll try and answer in order of the above:

1. You can buy sugarfree chocolate and substitute the sugar with either stevia or splenda. I have no recipes for such a cake however it is possible Dove farms might. Be careful using the mentioned products, too much acts as laxative.

2. The filling can be made with the sugarfree chocolate just like any other ganache and sweetened a little with either the stevia or splenda.

3. My hubby says sugarfree fondant is a contradiction in terms. He is a medical professional of over forty years standing. He has written a blog for diabetic baking on this site. However I have pointed out to him that perhaps it could be made with isomalt. I have found this link with ingredients and method of making for your perusal:
http://www.google.com/patents/US20130337140
Doesn’t look easy! but it’s an interesting read nontheless.

Here is a discussion on Cake Central with the exact questions as yours:
http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/659399/sugar-free-fondant
For sugarfree chocolate, google ‘Callebaut diabetic chocolate’

Picking off the sugarpaste off, is of course as you’ve rightly pointed out, the obvious option!
Good luck with it goldengoose. If you do manage to make a sugarfree sugarpaste please do share. x

Thank you so much miwl!

Looking into the links for sugar free fondant and diabetics I don’t think I’ll go there! but as you say interesting reads and good to know… I’m going to stick to my regular fondant decorations to be picked off!

I’d like to adapt Pauls chocolate cake as I’ve never had any problems with it at all, always turns out really good however carelessly I bake it. What do you think about substituting the chocolate for sugar/gluten free choc, using gluten free flour mix, and using half amount of powdered sweetener instead of sugar – I believe it can taste sweeter than sugar? Also I have read some do lessen the amount of sugar in Pauls recipe anyway?

I’m happy to experiment with this, if only for future knowledge, but would love to know what you think before I get the mixing bowl out as you know a lot more about the science of baking than I do 🙂 x

Hi goldengoose

I think you’re really adventurous and it’s great that you’re willing to experiment. It would be so good if you end up with an acceptable recipe. As you know, many members have be crying out for help in this area.
Paul’s recipe has been successfully baked with glutenfree flour as you will see in here:

Best gluten-free sponge?

Some sugar subsitutes, are a lot sweeter than the real thing so yes, you would need to experiment. I expect you are already aware that cakes which contain sugar subsitutes don’t rise like normal cake. Not so long ago I forgot to add all of the sugar into Paul’s recipe (hubby never lets me forget it!). Although the cake didn’t rise as much as normal, the taste, miraculously was fine!! I wondered at that time if aerating the mixture might have given it a better lift. It’s just something to try. I’m often asked for sugarfree recipes’ reduced sugar recipes, so I just reduce the sugar and advise moderate consumption. You can definitely reduce the sugar in Paul’s recipe, I think a member has reduced it by 200gm with very good results, here it is:

‘Paul’s moist chocolate cake’ My feed back

Scroll down that page to the penultimate feedback.
You can also subsitute sugar with pureed fruits like apple and banana. Bananas can be frothed up with a stick blender and added to cake batter, the tiny bubbles in the froth does actually help give a better rise. Cakes which contain fruit purees do have a shorter shelf life.
You could also use sugarfree carbonated water for recipes which ask for liquid. So you could use carbonated water in Paul’s recipe instead of the regular water asked for. There are lots of recipes online.

I’m not the scientist goldengoose, it’s my hubby who is. I’ve been baking for a very long time but only following recipes from books, magazines, hand me down recipes and now the internet. I’ve never produced a recipe which I can say is completely mine. I experiment a lot and alter established recipes. Hubby bakes bread so you can imagine the amount of experimenting that goes on around here. He helps me understand how it all works. I just know the basics and stilll learning even at my age!

These are some of the choices for sugar subs:
Splenda, Stevia, Xylitol. I’m sure there are many more which again, you’ll find online. (Be aware that Xylitol is poisonous to dogs.) If you’re baking a glutenfree scratch recipe you may also need xanthan gum, not all recipes ask for it. From personal experience of baking GF cakes I found it took me ages to accept the dry quality of the bakes. Nowadays there are hundreds of ways of adding moisture into baked goods. Google ‘sugarfree cake baking’ but remember to stick to fruit puree recipes and not those which contain honey.
If I come across any other interesting reads about this topic I’ll post on this thread. Meanwhile, happy experimenting and as always many thanks for your past contributions in Q & A xx

As for lessening the amount of sugar goldengoose, when I last made this cake I forgot to add the sugar but when filled and ganached it wasn’t missed.

Thanks again miwl, and gina, how did the cake turn out without sugar, apart from the taste being OK? What was the texture? Thanks so much for your replies.

Seems Gina and I did the same thing. Well I didn’t find the texture too bad, I think I would have compared it a little to shop bought trifle sponge but not quite so dry. I don’t think it would have made the baking top forty but it wasn’t wasted. We ate ours with creme fraiche. I guess it could be moistend with fruit puree. Can the person you are baking for have things like instant whip? Some of them are sugarfree, so are some jellies. Worth a look??