One of the most difficult things for me about going fructose-free is the inability to eat sweet stuff that I personally bake. Last week was my husband's birthday (Pi Day!) and I made him some delicious chocolate cupcakes with red licorice filling and cream cheese frosting. I got to have one bite.
Sad face. :(
The good thing about not being able to eat sweets is that I savor them more when I do get that one bite. The bad thing is, well, I don't need to tell you the bad thing.
I decided to attempt a fructose-friendly cream cheese frosting today, based on the ridiculously delicious NOT fructose-friendly Cream Cheese Frosting recipe on allrecipes.com. Oh, days where I was ignorant of the pain that sugar caused me, how I... sort of... miss you.
Two things to note:
First, since giving up sugary treats, I find that I no longer need the oodles of sugar that are in most baked goods. I did a few taste tests to find out what the minimum sugar level I found tasty and increased it by a small amount.
Second, you have to know your tolerance. (My upper limit is 5g of fructose per sitting and that's pushing it.) I wanted this to have the same smooth flavor as the allrecipes cream cheese and glucose (also known as dextrose) sits too hard on my tongue. I used a small amount of powdered sugar in my preferred recipe; however, in the second recipe, I give a fructose-free version.
If it's not sweet enough, increase the amount of glucose by 1 Tablespoon and then taste it again. (This won't increase your fructose content.)
This picture is of half the recipe.
(For those who are mathematically challenged, the "per Tablespoon" amount is the same even if you half or double the recipe.)
Fructose-Friendly Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield: ~2 cups or 32 Tablespoons
Fructose: ~1.5g per Tablespoon or 48g for the entire recipe
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup glucose
1.5 teaspoons homemade vanilla extract
Or if you put all your fructose into whatever you're frosting, here's the glucose-only recipe:
Fructose-Free Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield: ~2 cups or 32 Tablespoons
Fructose: ~0 per Tbsp
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup + 1.5 Tablespoons glucose
1.5 teaspoons homemade vanilla extract
Leave out the cream cheese and butter to soften for a few hours. Cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract. Add in the powdered sugar and glucose a few tablespoons at a time. Store in the refrigerator after use.
(And, if you're not familiar, glucose/dextrose can be found in most health food stores. I also found mine at Bulk Barn. Sometimes it's called "corn sugar.")
