Diabetic Cake

A year ago today my eldest was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Coming from a science background, I knew the score with it (or at least I thought I did), but something that has amazed me over the past year if the lack of understanding the general public seems to have about it.

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, your body begins to attack and destroy the cells in your pancreas that produce insulin. Because your body no longer produces insulin you need to inject insulin to keep your blood glucose levels normal. It is not caused by bad diet, or a lack of exercise. There is nothing you could have done to avoid it,

AND

Diabetics CAN HAVE CAKE. They can have cake just as much as anyone else, which is to say, they, me and you probably shouldn't eat it too often. All a type 1 diabetic needs to do is calculate the carbohydrate load of their portion and inject the appropriate amount of insulin to cover it (and as our specialist nurse would remind us, preferably take it as part of a meal with some slow releasing carbohydrate). Actually cake isn't that bad, because the high fat content slows the rate at which insulin is released into the blood. Just you know, don't go crazy on it....

With that in mind I baked my weirdest cake ever. My daughter asked for a cake to commemorate her "diaversary" as she likes to call it. I based this one on the cuddly pancreas produced by the awesome toy company I Heart Guts.

Gotta say I am quite proud of the amazing sense of humour she has kept about all of this.

Oh and if you're ever looking for a good cause to donate to, can I recommend JDRF and Diabetes UK?