For once I’m taking the back seat. Instead of letting my own voice do the talking, I asked my lovely sister Derya to write the very first guest post on Fructopia. Usually busy studying and shooting YouTube videos, Derya loves to spend most of her leisure time in the kitchen developing sneaky little sugar free treats. Naturally she was my first choice to review a new fructose friendly and refreshing treat for you: Coconut ice cream! Unfortunately this product is only available in Germany for now. We didn’t want to deprive you of these gorgeous images though. That’s why I’m sharing my translated version of her write-up with you here. Enjoy!
…
Sweet Pumpkin Bread With A Cinnamon Swirl (Low Fructose, Wheat Free)
The word is out: Last week I gave my final approval for my very own cookbook to go into print, but my small chipmunk heart is still pounding like mad. Between writing posts, testing recipes and the usual chaos here in Istanbul, I somehow forgot that the real excitementis only just about to begin. Writing a cookbook on the quiet is one thing. But waking up everyday to your good wishes, knowing that there are people now actually waiting for my cookbook to bet published, that’s pretty absurd.
So bear with me, while I get a bit emotional: I just wanted to say that I am really grateful for each and every one of you! Thanks a million for your lovely words and support! Thank you for every single like and share! Now come here, let me give you a hug and then I’ll bake you all the fructose free cakes in the world. We’ll have loads of low-fructose wineas well, but don’t tell anyone, okay? …
Chocolate covered orange peels (fructosefree)
Welcome in 2015! This year will be great! The mere thought of it makes my whole body tingle and I can’t stop grinning from ear to ear like the Cheshire Cat. According to Google, „to grin like a Cheshire Cat“ is the equivalent of the German idiom „grinning like a honey pie horse”. Now you know. 😀 Anyway, like I said, 2015 will be great!
For one, I just kicked off writing for German lifestyle magazine i-ref.de as a regular contributor. It is all in German, but you should check out this talented and absurdly good-looking team anyway! I’m also super flattered to be working alongside one of Germany’s most famous food bloggers: Jeanny from Sugar, Cinnamon and Love. She is the queen of backing, which is why her books are currently being translated into English as well!
And, as if that wasn’t enough, there’s more big news. I know I’m being a tease, but bear with me. Let’s just try to enjoy the anticipation for now. And don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. That way you won’t miss any of the big news. No spamming of course!
I must admit, the new year has activated some sort of “green smoothie” gene in me, which comes as no surprise seeing as my skin is craving the sun and my nose is constantly seeking the smell of spring bouquets. I’ve really come to love blending lush greens and nuts and turning these into a filling meal. That being said, I’ll continue to stick to the earthy winter produce for now, as long as it’s available. So let’s talk oranges. …
Fructose Free Blueberry Spelt Pie (Sugar Free)
Last week I was eating myself through several spelt products to test my personal level of tolerance. What can I say? I’ve fallen in love with it. I didn’t experience any side effects no matter what sort of spelt product I was eating. What’s more, spelt or “Dinkel” in German is a very popular grain here in Germany. That is why you can find a gazillion spelt products in almost any supermarket and, even better, freshly baked spelt bread at any bakery that sells quality bread. Wohoo!
Nonetheless, even in Germany it is difficult to come by a spelt dessert that is low in fructose. Time to step up to the oven again. This recipe for blueberry spelt tartlets already landed in my inbox a while ago. I fell in love with this recipe at first sight. It sounded too delicious, too easy, too tolerable for us fructose malabsorptioners. Too good to be true? Without a pack of whole grain spelt flour at hand I was going to have to wait a while before I could have my first go at baking with spelt. As soon as I did, this recipe turned out to be just like I had imagined. Thank you Carole for this wonderful recipe! …
Fructose friendly cheesecake with berries
I know, you guys were probably expecting the follow up on my journey of going gluten free. Unfortunately you will have to wait a couple of days more, as I’m not finished writing yet. There is so much to tell you. So, sorry for keeping you in the waiting line. Speaking of waiting lines, you should listen to this beautiful song by Zero 7.
To make waiting a little more enjoyable, I want to share this delicious, cream cheesy recipe with you. As mentioned before, I turned 30 in the middle of my gluten-free experiment. And I consider myself a really lucky girl that my boyfriend spent a full afternoon in the kitchen to create this fructose friendly, gluten free, creamy beauty for me. I took me a few days to finish it as nobody dared to eat up my special birthday treat. To be honest, I wasn’t too sad about having it all for myself. …
Oatmeal coconut cookies low in fructose
As I’m sitting here writing this post there is a plate of freshly baked oatmeal coconut cookies resting next to my laptop, begging to be devoured. Today it felt hard motivating myself to write. Before I sat down I quickly threw together those seven ingredients listed below, turning them into yet another batch of oatmeal coconut cookies, just to eat one of the freshly baked cookies straight out of the oven. I can‘t think of a better way to get into cookie mode. Also, when I tested this recipe a week ago I myself was a little surprised how delicious these cookies actually turned out to be. Therefore I needed some kind of reassurance that these cookies weren‘t too good to be true or rather just a stroke of luck. ;)
I found this recipe on Crash Test Mummy. It was the only recipe I found for oatmeal cookies low in fructose that looked worth giving it a try. Crash Test Mummy calls them ANZAC Cookies. Most of you native English speaking readers have probably heard this term before, but for me ANZAC didn’t ring a bell. It was only after a short search via Wikipedia that I found out what the abbreviation stands for “Australian and New Zealand Army Corps” and that this type of cookies are usually baked around the end of April to celebrate ANZAC Day and remember the fallen troops during World War I. I made those cookies because the recipe sounded delicious. Only now, when re-reading the same Wikipedia article did I notice that the same troops fought in a city called Gallipoli, which is called Çanakkale today and lies, guess what, in Turkey. I love coincidences. …
Oatmeal spice cookies low in fructose
To be honest, I am not the only one reconsidering our initial, resistance-free plunge into the Turkish eating culture, after having arrived in the land of milk and honey (see also “Unlearning Snacking“). More recently my boyfriend has also been doubting his reacquired snacking habits. A long time ago he drastically cut down his own sugar consumption out of consideration for me suffering from fructose malabsorption and surely as a result of my never ending lectures on the negative aspects of fructose consumption. But our numerous sugar slips during the past weeks are finally coming into effect. As soon as we get close to a supermarket there is this faint voice to my left asking “Uhm, I wonder if they have those amazing Coco-Star chocolate bars. I didn’t have any sweet treat today. One surely couldn’t do much harm”. A classical case of back-on-the-addiction-sugar-cravings I’d say. Even his attempt to do better by going for the organic, soaked in honey, oatmeal cookie instead of the chocolate bar cannot negate my previously made diagnosis. The only positive outcome of this recent sugar-slip is, that somehow I wasn’t able to get those ‘forbidden’, crunchy and chewy oatmeal cookies out of my head. I was craving to have one of those cookies, but of course one being low in fructose. After browsing millions of oatmeal-cookie recipes on Pinterest I was left with no alternative. Because of that and well aware of my intent to strictly follow a fructose-free diet once again, without compromising on taste or variety, I resulted to not one, but three different recipes for oatmeal-cookies that are low in fructose. Call me nerd. …
Fructose friendly cake with orange and ricotta
Today is our 12th day here in Istanbul. Because our language course did not start yet, it still feels like being on vacation. We get up late, stroll from cafe to cafe, sit in the sun, do some sightseeing here and there while try to immerse ourselves in this fascinating culture. Since arriving in Istanbul, the only thing I actually “cooked” for myself was a salad. The rest of the time we have been going out for breakfasts, lunches and dinners (usually skipping one or the other). The food you get at restaurants (called “restoran” or “lokanta”) here is just too good and we love to discover and taste all the new dishes and flavors. And, so far I’m doing pretty well with the Turkish food. It looks like the Turkish cuisine is much easier to handle when suffering from fructose malabsorption compared to the German cuisine. I haven’t experienced extreme stomach pain or other symptoms here yet. Knock on wood.
However, after eleven days I’m starting to miss cooking and baking at home. Not because I miss pasta dishes or other foods I used to cook in Berlin, but simply for the sake of cooking. As we have yet to find a flat of our own and are still staying with good friends, who are being the best hosts ever, it probably will take a few more weeks until I pick up cooking regularly at home again.
That’s why today I’m sharing a recipe for a really nice tea cake with you, which I made two days before leaving for Istanbul. Yes, call me crazy. Don’t ask me why I made the effort to bake a cake instead of packing my bags and tidying up the flat. I guess I needed an outlet for the pre-moving stress or wanted to empty out the pantry. Who knows.
However, I’m happy I gave this fructose friendly cake with orange and ricotta a shot. It turned out to be really tasty. It was very moist and full of flavor….
Fructose friendly muffins with coconut and buttermilk
Last week was my last day at work here in Berlin. I gave up the comfort of being permanently employed to dive into a new adventure. In no less than 18 days we will move to Istanbul! “Yeah, woohoo or yippieh” doesn’t nearly describe how excited I am about this move. But that’s not what this post is about. In any case, I am sure this new adventure will find more than one mention in future posts as I will be sure to let you know about our plans and non-plans for our new life in Istanbul. …
Fructose Friendly Cake With Orange And Cardamon
It’s time for the first fructose free recipe!
Baking never aroused much enthusiasm in me. I do like cakes and cookies, but I could never get much out of the process itself. I always felt that a cake took ages to bake and that the funny smell of baking would spread through the entire flat, clinging to my clothes and hair for days. Yuck. And cleaning up the whole mess, the butter, the flour, the eggslime that seems to be in every single corner. No thank you. Cooking on the other hand, oh yeah! I love standing in front of numerous pots and pans and can’t wait for flavors and smells to unfold. So it wasn’t much of a tragedy for me when I found out about my fructose malabsorption. In terms of baking my diagnosis just served as another good reason not to bake. …
Willkomen in Fructopia! In dieser kleinen Welt dreht sich alles um ein gesünderes Leben ohne Fructose, ohne Zucker, ohne Weizen. Schön, dass ihr da seid! 
