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Paleo birthday cake recipe no flour primal fruit cake

Paleo Birthday Cake

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Who said you can't have birthday cake now you're eating paleo?




My Mum is very careful to avoid all grains and sugars, so was both delighted and horrified when I presented her with this cake for her birthday! I didn't own up to the contents until she cut into it – she hadn't been expecting to cut into a melon!

Paleo birthday cake recipe no flour primal fruit cake

Birthday Cake Ingredients:

  • A large watermelon
  • Double cream (use coconut cream if you don't do dairy)
  • Flaked almonds
  • Summer berries

Birthday Cake How To:

1) The key is in cutting the watermelon into a good shape. Cut the top and bottom off the melon (at the widest part). Cut the edge off carefully, making sure your cut is straight. There will be a lot of wastage in pursuing the perfect cake shape – so save it all for a fruit salad!

2) Whip up the cream (use coconut cream if you can't tolerate dairy) and spoon it onto the melon cake, arranging it to cover the whole cake.

3) Sprinkle the almond flakes onto the sides and top of the cake and decorate with fresh berries.

Paleo birthday cake recipe no flour primal fruit cake slice

You can also use other types of melon or pineapple – or even tier them to make a layered cake. Have you had a go at making a paleo birthday cake? I'd love to hear how you made yours!

Paleo tomato ketchup sauce red recipe primal diet

Recipe: Paleo Tomato Ketchup

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It is so hard to find a tomato ketchup recipe that doesn't add in lots of sugar! Finally with a lot of tweaking, I’ve come up with my favourite Paleo tomato sauce recipe. A home made burger just isn't the same without tomato ketchup.

Paleo Tomato Ketchup Ingredients:

  • 15 Medium Tomatoes
  • 2 Onions, Chopped and Fried in Coconut Oil
  • 4 Garlic Cloves, Crushed and Fried in Coconut Oil
  • 1 Red Capsicum (Bell Pepper)
  • 100ml (4floz) Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1 Teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Paprkia
  • Pinch Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
  • 1 Teaspoon Black Peppercorns
  • 6 Cloves
  • 3cm (1 inch) Peeled & Chopped Ginger

Paleo Tomato Ketchup How To:

Chop up the tomatoes and capsicum and along with the onion and garlic, bring to the boil in a pan of the red wine vinegar.

Stir occasionally, allow the mixture to reduce to a thicker consitancy.

Remove from the heat and puree in a blender to your desired level of smoothness, before returning to the pan over the heat.

In some muslin or a tea strainer, add the seeds, peppercorns, cloves and ginger and add to the pan.

Reduce the heat to simmer and cover until it thickens up to your liking.

Once ready, remove the muslin or strainer and bottle the ketchup and store in the fridge.

I’d love to hear how you make ketchup? What do you do differently?

Paleo tomato ketchup sauce red recipe primal diet

Diabetic sweets fruit slim sugar free paleo diet

Diabetic Sweets

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I picked up the November issue of “Diabetic Living” magazine yesterday.  The piece below tells diabetic readers how good Fruit Slim sweets are, “sugar-free, fat-free, fibre filled”, which will “halt food cravings in their tracks”.  It then goes on to say that there is more fibre in five of these sweets, than there is in two-cups of spinach or 15 raw almonds!  This makes me slightly want to cry!

Guilt-Free-Sweets-diabetic diabetes

So, the ingredients of “Fruit Slims” are: Gum Acacia, Maltitol, Sorbitol, Xylitol, Acidifier (330), Fruit Juice Concentrate, Flavour, Vegetable Oil, Sweetener (955), Natural Colour ( Paprika), Coating Agent (901).

Sweetener (955) is sucralose.  This sweetener has been linked with liver and kidney damage.  There is also a lot of uncertainty with artificial sweeteners and some evidence to suggest that they may cause an insulin response; clearly not desirable in diabetics!  Maltitol, Sorbitol and Xylitol are all sugar alcohols, which might be classed as “sugar-free”, but are carbohydrates and do have an effect on blood sugar levels.  Fruit juice is also sugar, which clearly impacts blood sugar levels.  “Flavour” could mean anything and as for the “vegetable” oil; well, that’s certainly not Paleo!  The ingredients of these “crazy good” sweets look more like a chemistry experiment; there are no real foods in sight.

I think it’s really irresponsible to promote these as a good product to anyone, never mind diabetics.  To imply they are a better choice than almonds or spinach seems reckless.  They might have more fibre, but when eating a Paleo diet rich in vegetables, fibre won’t be an issue.  Besides, for diabetics, blood sugar is a far more pressing issue than fibre?

I've not found anything to back up the claim that these sweets will “halt food cravings in their tracks”.  In fact from what I've read, artificial sweeteners appear to have the opposite effect, increasing cravings for carbohydrates.

Compare the chemical composition of “Fruit Slims” to the “alternatives” of almonds and spinach.

Almonds provide high natural amounts of many nutrients, including manganese, vitamin E, magnesium, tryptophan, copper, vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and phosphorus.

Spinach is a fantastic source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2 (riboflavin), calcium, potassium, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), tryptophan, vitamin E, copper, vitamin B1 (thiamine), phosphorus, zinc, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin B3 (niacin) and selenium – and many other nutrients.

Am I missing the benefits of this swap?

Diabetic sweets fruit slim sugar free paleo diet