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I'm planning on making a flourless chocolate cake for Thanksgiving. I plan on thoroughly enjoying one small slice and sending most leftovers home with my guests. I recently retested for soy with Enterolab and it is still a problem. Almost all chocolate, regardless of quality, has soy lecithin. I just read an article about soy lecithin by Chris Kresser and he claims the amount of soy in chocolate is so small, it is negligible and nothing to be worried about UNLESS you have severe allergic reactions to soy.
I was eating soy ice cream like a little piggie when I got the first migraine head ache of my life. Before MC I ate soy burgers several times a week, IOW, a lot of soy.
So, do I take a small chance and use a very good chocolate containing a negligible amount of soy lecithin or Enjoy Life chocolate? Enjoy Life chocolate is fine in a chocolate chip cookie but doesn't taste great on its own.
I am in remission now and have been for several months. I don't cheat and am following a mostly paleo diet. Once in a while I will have a little tomato or potato, M & M almonds or ice cream. I doubt one small piece of cake will make me sick but I'm wondering about Chris Kresser's assertion that soy lecithin is nothing much to worry about. His argument is pretty persuasive but I am not a scientist and I'm taking his assertions at face value.
So, can those of us with soy intolerance eat a little bit of soy lecithin without worries? Thanks for your thoughts, PP people.
Sheila W
To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.
A person who never made a mistake never tried something new. Einstein
Shelia wrote:Almost all chocolate, regardless of quality, has soy lecithin. I just read an article about soy lecithin by Chris Kresser and he claims the amount of soy in chocolate is so small, it is negligible and nothing to be worried about UNLESS you have severe allergic reactions to soy.
I disagree with Chris about soy sensitivities. Many members here react more severely to soy than they do to gluten. And they react to smaller trace amounts.
The "experts" also claim that everyone who is sensitive to soy can tolerate soy oil, but the experience of members here who are sensitive to soy and who have tried soy oil prove that claim to be false, just like the claim about soy lecithin. It sounds good in theory, but it simply doesn't work in the real world.
You can buy chocolate without soy lecithin if you buy the higher percentage chocolates.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Sheila, Have you tried the Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips? In my opinion they are much better than the dark chocolate bars. My problem is I have trouble stopping at a few. I have tried Lindt 90% cocoa supreme dark bars. They're OK. I think the chocolate tastes better cold so I refrigerate it. It doesn't contain soy.
I wouldn't take a chance with the soy lecithin. I'd go with Enjoy Life. I agree that it doesn't taste that great by itself, but should be fine in baking.
I make a flourless chocolate cake, and a few years ago I figured out cocoa and oil substitutions for the baking chocolate. I use 12 Tbs cocoa, 8 Tbs sugar, and 3 Tbs coconut oil to sub for the chocolate, but I no longer remember what amount of baking chocolate the recipe called for.
The rest of the recipe calls for using 1/2 c. coconut oil, 1 c. sugar (divided, using 1/2 cup to mix with the cocoa mixture and egg yolks, and the other 1/2 cup to beat with the egg whites), and 4 eggs.
It makes a 9" cake, baked 40 minutes at 300 degrees, that falls when it cools, and gets dusted with powdered sugar. It's really very tasty.
Shelia,
Soy makes me sicker than anything else!
I use Hershey's powdered cocoa, which is what I always used in cakes, frosting, etc. I has just the one ingredient.
Also I have had good luck converting recipes by substituting 1/4 cup applesauce for each egg. Really any puree will do (pumpkin, banana, etc).
Theresa
MC and UC 2014
in remission since June 1, 2014
We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. ~Jim Rohn
Thanks for all the input. I will use the Enjoy Life for the semi-sweet and go to Whole Foods for a soy-free dark chocolate. The recipe is an old one that I have made for years and it is worth the effort to get it just right.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sheila W
To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.
A person who never made a mistake never tried something new. Einstein
Sheila
a good way to enhance the recipe is to use 'pure cocoa butter'
pure cocoa butter is what used to be used in chocolate, until they replaced it with much cheaper soy lecithin.
if you dont have a whole foods or something similar in your local area that sells the cocoa butter, you can buy it onlilne.
you can make your own chocolate, using a mix of cocoa butter, coconut oil, cocao powder etc.
google it - here is one link i found - http://www.precisionnutrition.com/chocolate-making
if you want it sweeter, you could add things like coconut sugar - if you want it more caramel/sweeter use coconut nectar etc
I have converted quite a few of my pre MC recipes by using 20-40grams of cocoa butter in the mix, it takes the grainyness out of the GF flours etc
I have even made my own lip balm using the cocoa butter and coconut oil
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
I have learned to love the Lindt 90% chocolate. It tastes best at 75 degrees or higher - melts in your mouth. And just a little square (or 2) takes care of your chocolate craving, for sure.
I'll save your chocolate recipe, Gabes. I make almost everything from scratch and I'm so tired of cooking, I doubt I would go to the trouble unless I was desperate.
I'm okay with a few Enjoy Life chocolate chunks in a cookie but really can't eat a larger amount. This chocolate cake is going to be a real treat for me.
I'll probably use Lindt in the cake if I can find it. Whole Foods always has at least one soy free bar. If I am going to go to the trouble of making this cake from scratch, I'm going to use the best chocolate I can find.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Sheila W
To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.
A person who never made a mistake never tried something new. Einstein
Hopeful wrote:I have learned to love the Lindt 90% chocolate. It tastes best at 75 degrees or higher - melts in your mouth. And just a little square (or 2) takes care of your chocolate craving, for sure.
Me too, a square or 2 of Lindt 90% chocolate hits the spot with no desire to binge on it. Too rich for that.
I have found a great tasting Italian bar PERUGINA. It uses sunflower lecithin instead of soy. I eat the 51% that I buy at a local independent grocery store, but Cost Plus World Market sells the darker one also ( I think 70%). Very yummy :)
Thanks for the reminder, Leah. I love Perugina as well but forgot about it. I haven't bought a candy bar in a long time and will check out Publlix and Whole Foods. Trader Joe opened a store nearby but it is quite small and very, very crowded.
Sheila W
To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.
A person who never made a mistake never tried something new. Einstein
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