What helpful hints do you have for converting homemade ice cream recipes for use by diabetics? Is it possible to substitute non-dairy creamers plus skim milk for cream? What substitutions can be made for the sugars?
What is the use of cornstarch in recipes?
I do not have a specific recipe for homemade ice cream for use by people with diabetes. I would suggest though you try any vanilla frozen yogurt recipe to which you could add fresh or frozen fruit pieces.
A recipe I found for homemade ice cream is as follows: 2 cups whipping cream, 2 cups light cream, 1 cup sugar, 1/1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/8 teaspoon salt. If you want to make French ice cream, add 1/2 box of instant pudding dry powder to above. Vary the flavors and fruit you put in the ice cream while freezing. This recipe (serves 8) has 270 calories, 17 grams fat, 27 grams carbohydrate, and 1 gram protein. One-half cup of this homemade ice cream is 2 starch and 3 fat exchanges.
You could substitute plain yogurt for the whipping cream and evaporated fat-free milk for the light cream in the above recipe. You could use 1/2 the amount of sugar in the regular recipe or use a new Splenda baking product that is half sugar, half sucralose. I wouldn’t suggest replacing all the sugar with a low-calorie sweetener as the product may not freeze. This modified recipe would have 140 calories, 1 gram fat, 24 grams carbohydrate and 8 grams protein. One-half cup of this low-fat frozen yogurt is 1 1/2 starch and 0 fat exchanges.
I would not recommend substituting non-dairy creamer for cream in ice cream because non-dairy creamers are usually made with palm oil which is a saturated fat. Cornstarch is a thickener for hot liquids like soup, gravy or sauces. Try using sugar-free instant pudding mix instead of cornstarch to make a French type ice cream. This will add 13 calories and 4 grams carbohydrate to each serving.
