instagram Facebook Pinterest Twitter Email

Miss Marzipan logo

-

YAY! MY FIRST BAKING COMMISSION! (plus delicious refined sugar-free chocolate chip cookie & lemon drizzle cake recipes)

Yes folks, someone out there generously believes in my baking abilities enough to offer to pay me for my services! Furthermore, they had faith that I would be able to meet their brief of refined white sugar-free only goodies for their sweet 3 year-old daughter’s birthday party (with over 50 guests in attendance). The party had crafting theme (how sweet is that?) and I would have loved to create decorated sweet treats to fit the theme, but it was not to be. My initial baking plan included what you see here, plus a Victoria sponge and carrot cake slices, but our family trip to Finland on the very weekend the party was to be held put a spanner in the works, and not only did I have to experiment with sugar-free baking, but with freezing in/defrosting too. I may have been unable to execute the full range of items I would have liked to thanks to pre-existing travel plans, but I did end up producing a total of 175 cookies and 2 loaf cakes which I froze in, ready for defrosting on the big day. This job was a labour of love involving literally hours of recipe research/test baking/taste-testing/baking/organising, etc., and I probably barely managed to cover the costs of all the ingredients in the end, however it was really fun… and simply being asked/trusted to do it all was a lovely compliment. I am happy (and just a tad proud) to share these tried and tested recipes here. All my taste-testers prior to the final baking session loved these treats and reports are that they were very well-received on the party day too 🙂


 
LUSCIOUS REFINED SUGAR-FREE LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE
Made with birch sugar (xylitol) and fresh, organic lemons, this cake is moist, perfectly lemony, freezes and defrosts like a charm and is generally simply lovely! Xylitol has no noticeable aftertaste and is reputed to be safe for diabetics and hyperglycemics. Compared to refined regular sugar which has a glycemic index of 100, xylitol has a very low GI of 7. The significantly lower calorie count in xylitol means you can probably justify having a second slice of this cake ;)… and I promise the absence of refined sugar will not be noticed taste-wise. MissMarzipan_sugar_free_lemon_cake INGREDIENTS
225g organic plain flour, sifted
2 ½ tsp baking powder
200g birch sugar (xylitol)
2 organic lemons, zest only
2 large organic eggs, room temperature
125ml organic rapeseed oil
1 tbsp organic milk (I used soy)
200g organic Greek or Turkish yogurt (I tried both and they worked equally well)
DRIZZLE INGREDIENTS
1 lemon, juice only
50g birch sugar (xylitol)
DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan. Grease and line a 1.2 litre loaf tin with baking paper.
  2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, xylitol and lemon zest in a large bowl.
  3. Mix the eggs, sunflower oil, milk and yoghurt together in a separate bowl and stir into the flour mixture.
  4. Spoon into a tin, smoothing the surface once full. Transfer to the oven immediately, bake on the middle shelf of the oven for approximately 1 hour . Check after 50 minutes and if the cake is becoming too dark, cover loosely with foil.
  5. Just before the end of baking time, make the drizzle by heating the lemon juice and xylitol in a small saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the xylitol has dissolved completely. Once the cake has baked, take it out of the oven and pour the drizzle evenly over the top.
  6. Cool the cake in the tin before turning it out.

 
*Recipe closely adapted from this one by Caroline Hire, found at bbcgoodfood.com
*This cake may be frozen and it defrosts like a dream. As it is so moist, it will also keep very well for a couple of days after baking.
*Delicious served with whipped cream (or your favourite non-dairy whip)!
 
CHEWY, DELICIOUS, REFINED SUGAR-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Makes: approx. 40 cookies, Prep time: 20 minutes, Bake time: 10-12 minutes per tray
I am rather proud of this recipe as, not only does it produce scrummy, chewy chocolate chip cookies of a healthier variety, but I have modified and experimented with it so much so that I feel that I can claim this as my own. I made a batch with organic raisins too, by simply switching out the chocolate chips with raisins in equal quantities. They were also lovely and may provide a nice alternative if sugar-free chocolate chips are hard to come by. MissMarzipan_sugar_free_cookies2 INGREDIENTS
115 g unsalted butter, softened
50 g birch sugar (xylitol)
160 g organic coconut palm sugar
1 organic egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
190 g organic plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp hot water
1/4 tsp salt
150 g sugar-free chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 175C (I used fan).
  2. Cream together butter, birch sugar and coconut palm sugar until fluffy (approx. 5 minutes in a KitchenAid/standing mixer). Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add vanilla.
  3. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt and give a final mix before stirring in flour and chocolate chips.
  4. Drop heaped spoonfuls (I used a teaspoon) onto baking paper-lined trays. 12 cookies should fit on a tray with room for spreading (they do spread quite a bit).
  5. Bake for about 10-12 minutes in oven.
  6. When cooled, store in airtight containers for up to a few days or freeze in and defrost as needed.

 
*Watch your first tray of cookies carefully to gauge the right baking time/temperature setting for your oven.
*When freezing, use airtight containers and separate layers of cookies with baking paper cut to the size of the container to prevent cookies sticking to each other.
*Chopped walnuts (around 50-75g) could be added to this and would no doubt be delicious, but a serious nut allergy amongst the little guest meant my cookies contained no nuts.
*Chopped sugar-free chocolate could probably be used in place of chocolate chips in a pinch, however I am yet to experiment with it myself.
 
I ordered my specialty sugars from Bodystore.se and was very happy with the products, service and delivery.
For more sugar-free inspiration by a true expert on the matter, drop by No Naughties. No Naughties recently released their newest gluten/sugar/wheat/yeast-free cookbook (this one all about pancakes) for downloading at a very reasonable price. It was available FREE for download for a period of 24 hours. These extra special offers pop up once in a while so keep an eye out by following this lovely blog.
 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. For some reason I thought you were living is Australia — but can’t imagine I am right if you were in ad Finland for the weekend! Your treats look very professional. Congrats on your first gig!

    • Hehe- I am an Aussie officially but live in Scandinavia. Sweden is the place I call my other home, so Finland is just a boat trip/short flight away 🙂 And thank you! xx

  2. Yay, indeed. This is such happy news. So pleased for you and it all looks delicious. And I am also pleased to know that xylitol is birch sugar. I have often wondered what it is.

    • Thank you so much! I was always hesitant to use it because I didn’t really know what it was all about… and “xylitol” sounded so… chemical! But the one I ordered is made from birch, low GI, tooth friendly, low in calories, tastes good, is an easy replacement for caster sugar… not much to complain about, really! 🙂 It is advised to go easy on servings as some tummies are sensitive to too much xylitol so I guess that’s the only downside. x

  4. Congratulations! It all looks fantastic. Isn’t it ironic that big moments like that always seem to come with a monkey wrench to over come? I hope you enjoyed your weekend away as much as everyone enjoyed the treats!

    • Thank you so much! Very kind 🙂 Yes, it’s one of those things, I suppose… but what’s an extra challenge in amongst other challenges? 😉

  7. congrats on your first paid venture! I think many non-foodies don’t realize the amount of time, research, and trial and error go into recipe creation. But most of us posting here do, awesome work!

  13. Congratulations! The only one thing I do not undersand is why you sound so suprised that someone should like your baking this much! 😉 you create wonderful dishes!

  14. Oh how wonderful to earn some extra money doing something you love and are clearly so good at, Congratulations. Everything looks delicious. I have a friend who loves everything lemon and so pinned your loaf for future reference. I haven’t ever seen birch sugar here, but then again, I’ve never looked for it. But I like that idea a lot. Once word gets out on your cookies, you’ll probably have more party orders than you know what to do with, enjoy the sweet taste of success!

    • Aw, thank you so very much! Really sweet of you! I know lots of regular stores are starting to sell agave, stevia and xylitol (birch sugar)… it can always be purchased online if not. And, as xylitol can be exchanged spoon for spoon by caster sugar, if your friend can’t access xylitol, white sugar should work fine. Thanks again 🙂 xxx

    • Thank you! Doves Farm make a gf self-raising flour blend… if you reduced the amount of baking soda to 1/2 a tsp and replaced the plain flour with this gf self-raising blend, it might well do the trick. Having not experimented with this, I cannot say for sure, but it might be fun to try it out 🙂 All the very best x

  21. Hello Miss Marzipan
    And thank you sooooo much for including No Naughties in your post – you’re really kind!
    Your recipes look super yummy and I’m so pleased that you could showcase your wonderful baking. I’m sure the guests enjoyed your treats!
    How was Finland? I hope the weather was nice and the trip went well.
    Many thanks again & Happy midsommar!
    Tarja x

    • You’re very welcome, Tarja! I was really pleased to hear that everyone enjoyed what I made… the little girl’s parents were very happy and they were the ones who ordered everything, so that makes me :D. Finland was great, the weather was variable, but when it was nice it was sunny and sweet. Happy Midsummer to you! xx

  23. CONGRATULATIONS!!! I can only well imagine the pride and excitement you feel for ‘creating’ (literally) your own funds 🙂 I hope it is just the first of many!

  26. Congrats , my friend! This is great news to hear! each for you & your tasty culinary creations! Yes, yes, yes! 😉 these are 2 Amazing recipes, I say!

  27. So fun to see what you came up with for the party!! The bread and cookies do look bautifully delicious! And how was the trip to Finland (could that be your next post?) –I’ve always wanted to travel there…

  28. Lovely looking recipes! I’ve never cooked with xylitol but have heard good things about it, so its great to find some recipes that might inspire me to use it!
    Love your blog 🙂

    • Thank you so much! Really sweet of you! Yes, this baking with xylitol was a first for me… super-easy because you can sub sugar for it spoon for spoon. Will use it again, for sure 🙂 All the best 🙂 x

  29. Well done on your first commission. Going to have to try both of those recipes, they look lovely, my mouth is watering looking at that lemon drizzle cake.