Grain Free Vanilla Chocolate Fudge Marble Cake. No sugar, low in sweetener.

by Sarah Shilhavy
Health Impact News

Raw honey is one of the healthiest sweeteners readily available for use in baking. Honey is a much better choice than processed sugar. Granulated sugar made from cane sugar is actually is a natural product. However, most types of granulated sugars in the market go through a very refined processing method which strips out most of the natural nutrients.

In addition, granulated sugar from sugar beets is more than likely from a GMO source. If you do use granulated sugar in your recipes, make sure it is organic cane sugar as close to its original source, which is usually very dark and dry. Therefore, you’re better off using raw honey, which is a whole food that in its natural state needs no further refining. And its healthier too! The information below will show you how to replace sugar in your baked goods with raw honey.

It’s important to be sure that the honey you are consuming is actually real honey.  John Thomas of Health Impact News, in his article Is the Best Honey Really “Local” Honey?, states:

American consumers buy about 400 million pounds of honey per year, but US producers only supply 150 million pounds. So foreign businesses, especially manufacturers in China, are selling honey cut with cheap sweeteners, sugar water or high-fructose corn syrup. Some of the honey also contains unauthorized antibiotics and pesticides. (Source.)

Check your sources. Don’t eat fake stuff.

Besides being delicious, raw honey has a myriad of health benefits. Honey does not have much of a learning curve when it comes to use in baked goods. One thing to keep in mind though is that while this is a healthy sweetener, it is still a “sugar”, containing glucose and fructose. So it can affect your insulin levels.

Since raw honey tends to be a solid, this makes it even easier to use in place of sugar in recipes. Just remember that not all honeys are the same, and the guidelines below are designed for the kind of honey that is not a sticky liquid but a firm, thick, ice cream consistency solid.

Honey For Sugar Swapping 

To use honey in baking, the first thing to keep in mind would be the approximate ratio of honey to sugar. Generally, you want to use about one fourth to one third of the amount of honey to sugar, as honey in general is much more concentrated than granulated sugar. This would leave the conversion ratios looking like this:

1 cup granulated sugar = 1/4 – 1/3 cup raw honey

To determine just how much honey will be needed is going to take some practice and consideration on what other sweeteners are going into the product. If other sweeteners or sugary ingredients such as fruit are being used, you will not need as much. As a general rule, start with less and add more to taste. It is easier to start with less and add more to taste as undoing a mistake is pretty much entirely impossible in these situations.

Another thing to take into consideration is the fact that swapping out sugar for honey will increase the moisture content of the overall finished product. Generally, this will not be an issue if the amount of honey used is under 1 cup (128 grams or 4.5 ounces.) If however, that much honey is going to be used, you may have to scale back a bit on any liquids or high moisture ingredients being used (e.g. milk, water, yogurt, sour cream, etc.)

All general guidelines for swapping sugar for honey in summary:

1. 1 cup granulated cane sugar = 1/4 – 1/3 cup raw honey
2. Start with less, not more.
3. Be prepared to nix 20-40% of liquids in recipes requiring over 1 cup/128 grams/4.5 ounces of honey.

The recipe below is a beginner friendly cake to get started on baking with raw honey. It is also low in sweetener and allergy-friendly. Try this recipe, or pick your favorite recipe and try your hand at converting!

Grain Free Vanilla Chocolate Fudge Marble Cake

Grain Free Vanilla Chocolate Fudge Marble Cake. No sugar, low in sweetener.

Servings: 8-10
Preparation Time: 15 minutes

CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE BATTER

• 1/2 cup (heaping full) dark chocolate, chopped
• 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 egg, preferably organic
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

VANILLA CAKE BATTER

• 8 eggs, preferably organic
• 3/4 cup sour cream, full fat
• 4 tablespoons raw honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup coconut flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

{8 oz fresh raspberries to garnish}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees ºF. Generously grease a 9 in cake pan (springform pan works great too) with coconut oil or butter.

Slowly melt chocolate over low heat. Whip together remaining chocolate fudge batter ingredients with the chocolate and set aside.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together all wet vanilla cake ingredients. Sift in dry ingredients. Blend again, scrape down sides of bowl and blend again. Pour batter into greased baking pan. Use a spoon to drop chocolate fudge on top of vanilla cake. The top will be filled with chocolate! Using a toothpick, swirl together the two batters, you do not need to completely mix, just make a few swirls.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a tester of the center comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool completely on a cooling rack before removing from the pan.

Garnish with raspberries or whatever fresh berries you may find or even homemade whipped cream or ice cream. Store any left over cake in the refrigerator.

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