Food That Loves You Back

Food has always been part of my life.

At first, it was fuel. Running. Cycling. Martial arts. Staying fit. Staying sharp. Eat well, move well, repeat.

Simple.

I’ve never smoked. Never drank. Never touched drugs. Sugar was never really my thing either, ironically. I’ve always tried to look after myself.

Which is why, in early 2021, when I was rushed to hospital and was told I had Type 1 diabetes, it didn’t just surprise me… it completely floored me. Because like most people, I had it wrong.

“I don’t eat sugar. I exercise every day. I’m healthy. That’s not me.”

Except… it was me. And suddenly, I had a lot to learn. Very fast. Because this wasn’t optional.

This was literally life or death.

The Maths Behind Every Bite

Here’s the part most people don’t see or realise.

As a Type 1 diabetic, I can eat whatever I want. I’m not restricted in the way people assume – that’s type 2 diabetes, completely different. That said, every single thing I eat comes with a free advanced maths lesson.

Take a simple slice of bread. It typically contains somewhere between 12–19 grams of carbs that I need to inject insulin for. And that’s just the beginning. Because then you layer in:

Time of day
Stress levels
Weather (yes, really)
What I did physically before
What I’m about to do after

And suddenly, that “simple” slice of bread becomes a moving equation.

How much insulin do I take?
When do I take it?
Will it work as expected… or won’t it?

It’s not precise. It’s not predictable. And it’s relentless. Every meal. Every snack. Every day. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. For the rest of my life. Some people compare it to riding a bike on a tightrope whilst juggling knives. Oh yes, and the bike is on fire – of course 🔥🥴🤣

Then I Went Vegan…

I’d already been vegetarian for over 30 years.

In 2020, I went fully vegan. And that’s when something interesting happened. Desserts… basically disappeared. Or at least, anything worth eating did.

Sure, there were options. Technically. Theoretically. But most of them either tasted like deep regret with a dollop of disappointment… or were loaded with sugar, junk ingredients. Often both.

So now I had a choice: Accept it. Or fix it.

“How Hard Can It Be?” (Famous Last Words)

To be completely transparent: I’ve never formally trained as a chef. I’ve never been to culinary school. And I definitely hadn’t been taught how to make chocolate from scratch.

And so in typically Dani fashion… I went for it anyway. All in. And what followed was chaos.

Recipes that failed spectacularly. Textures that made no sense. Flavours that shouldn’t exist in nature.

Ingredients wasted. Time wasted. Money wasted. A lot of it.

But slowly… something started to click.

From “C’est Merde” to “Actually… This Is Really Good”

Along the way, I met some incredible people. One of them is one of the best dessert chefs in the country. Genuinely.

His early feedback?

“C’est merde.”

And, memorably:

“Maybe you should consider another career.”

Fair.

But I kept going. And one day, he tasted something… paused… and said:

“This is actually really good.”

Now when we meet up, he casually walks off with a kilo of my mint dark chocolate buttons like it’s completely normal.

No complaints. No insults. Just chocolate. That he loves.

And here’s the part I really love… He’s a type 2 diabetic – the kind most people associate with sugar and carbs. That diabetes.

Which means he doesn’t just enjoy my chocolate… he actually benefits from it.

No spikes. No crash. No guilt. Just proper chocolate, doing what chocolate should do. Making you happy.

So What Is Frootie, Really?

Frootie isn’t just about “healthy desserts.” If it was, it would fail immediately. Because if it’s not delicious, what’s the point?

This was always the rule: Delicious first. Always.

It has to feel indulgent. It has to feel like a treat. It has to give you that little moment of “I probably shouldn’t… but I’m glad I did.”

But that doesn’t mean it has to work against you.

If It Didn’t Exist… I Built It

Very quickly, I realised something. Even when I could find plant-based ingredients… they didn’t always tick my boxes.

Take vegan cream cheese. Most of it is built on coconut oil. High in saturated fat. Low in real nutritional value. A lot of calories doing very little. That didn’t work for me. It went against everything I was trying to do.

So I built my own.

A plant-based cream cheese that’s:

High in protein
High in fibre
Nutritionally balanced
And actually tastes amazing

Because if I’m going to eat something… it needs to love me back.

That became the rule across everything I create.

If I couldn’t find it… I invented it. So I could control the numbers. The nutrition. And the functional value of every ingredient going into my body.

Food That Works With You, Not Against You

Every recipe I create is built on a simple idea: Make the calories count.

Not empty. Not pointless. Not something you have to “burn off” later.

So everything I make is:

No added sugar
Plant-based
Free from dairy, gluten and nuts
Lower impact on blood sugar
Built with real nutritional value

And crucially…

It still tastes like proper food. Not cardboard. Not compromise. Not “this will do.”

Why This Matters to Me

I got tired of being that person. The one person at the table who can’t have dessert. The one scanning menus for something – anything – that fits. The one politely saying, “I’m fine, thanks,” when you’re not.

And it wasn’t even about diabetes. It was dairy. Eggs. Sugar. Animal fats.

So Frootie became something bigger than just recipes. It became about inclusion. About making sure no one at the table feels like the odd one out.

Recreating the Experience

The goal was never to make “alternative” food. It was to recreate the real thing. The texture. The richness. The satisfaction.

So that:

Someone who eats everything doesn’t feel like they’re compromising
And someone who can’t eat everything doesn’t feel excluded

That’s the sweet spot.

And Now…

Now I’ve got:

Rich dark, milk and white chocolates
Mind bending fruit-infused chocolates like passion fruit, raspberry and strawberry
Creamy cheesecakes
Naughty puddings
Incredible Brazilian chocolate pizza
And my slightly mad yet wonderfully yummy hybrid creation: Checlairs. A cheesecake… disguised as an éclair… drizzled with delicious chocolate (mine of course)

Because why not?

The Bigger Picture

Frootie started as a solution to a problem. But it’s become something else entirely.

It’s about control in a world that can feel unpredictable. It’s about turning a condition into creativity. It’s about proving that “free from” doesn’t mean “less than.”

And maybe, in a small way, it’s about giving people back something simple: The ability to just enjoy food again.