Kyles, you will NEVER be a pain! I doubt that you even know how...!
Here are a few for you, all tried and true and downright good, straight from my hard drive to you!
First and foremost is Angel Food Cake. It has zippo fat and is actually fairly low in sugar. Grab a premix box of this stuff and make the batter. Just before pouring into your tube pan to bake, fold in a can of well-drained crushed pineapple and bake as directed. Geez, this stuff is good!
Alternatively, bake the angel food cake as directed and cool completely and remove from the tube pan. Remove the top inch of the cake using a serrated knife and set aside. Hollow out the interior of the cake, leaving the sides at least half an inch thick. Get a container of low-fat Cool-Whip (a non-dairy whipped topping here in the States – do you have something like that there?) and combine it with about a pint of sliced strawberries. Fill the hollowed angel food cake with the strawberry mixture, replace the top of the cake and chill thoroughly (2 hours) before slicing and serving. Oh boy, is this EVER good!
An absolute favorite around here you will probably get a kick out of considering your love (as is mine) of tea:
I frequently poach Bosc pears in Earl Gray tea. And it is very simple to do.
You will need:
2 firm Bosc pears, peeled and halved lengthwise, then cored
2 cups of water
2 Earl Grey tea bags
½ cup of Splenda
8 dried apricot halves
4 whole cloves
¼ cup dried tart cherries
Bring the water to boil in a medium saucepan and add the tea bags. Remove from heat, cover and allow to steep for ten minutes. Discard the tea bags. Add the Splenda to the tea and stir over medium heat until it is dissolved. Add the pear halves, apricots and cloves. Cover again and simmer until the pears are tender (about 5 minutes). Add the dried cherries and simmer another minute or so to rehydrate them.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer a pear to each of four serving dishes, as well as the apricots and cherries (trying to evenly distribute them among the serving dishes). Discard the cloves.
Now boil the tea/splenda juice over medium heat until it reduces to about ¾ cup of syrup. This will take about 5-7 minutes. Pour this syrup over the fruit.
Chill the fruit until cold (about 3 hours) and serve.
I also often make an Apple-Ginger-Basil Granita, especially in the Summertime:
4 large Granny Smith (tart) apples, peeled, cored and sliced
The juice of 2 lemons
Zest of 1 lemon
1 2-inch piece of peeled, fresh ginger
½ cup of Splenda (or even sugar)
1 tablespoon of finely chopped, fresh ginger
Place half of the sliced apples at a time into a blender and puree, then strain through a fine sieve into a large bowl to collect the juice. (You should have about 3 to 3-1/2 cups. *You can also obviously substitute some good cider or sparkling cider here instead of juicing the apples!)
In a food processor (or cleaned and dried blender), combine the Splenda (or sugar) with the basil and process until the basil is finely ground and the sugar is a nice, light green. Now add the fresh ginger and process until the ginger is ground.
Add the sugar mixture to the apple juice, along with lemon juice and zest and combine well until the sugar is dissolved. Pour into a baking dish (I use a square one) and place into the freezer. Every hour or so, take a dinner fork and stir, crushing any lumps, until the mixture is evenly frozen. This takes about four hours. Just before serving, take your fork and scrape the frozen mixture to create a grainy texture and spoon into serving dishes (glass compotes are pretty!). Serve immediately with a n extra sprig of basil as a decoration, if you wish.
**You may use this very same recipe and method to make granitas using strawberries, raspberries or any fruit you can conceive and find available, and substitute other spices like cinnamon, etc. for the basil.
If you need a little more “tooth” in your desserts, try this one, another favored recipe:
Light Applesauce Carrot Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a Bundt pan with nonstick vegetable spray.
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 eggs
5 tablespoons corn oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup honey
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups grated carrots
Combine flour, spices, salt, soda and baking powder in a large bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs until light lemon color and add oil until completely incorporated. Add applesauce and honey until blended. Combine wet into dry ingredients in a large bowl until well blended.
Add grated carrots last and fold into the batter until evenly distributed.
Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
Cool completely on a wire rack. Frost with Lemon Cream Frosting and refrigerate until chilled (2-3 hours).
Lemon Cream Frosting
8 ounces low-fat ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
zest from one lemon
4 tablespoons chopped walnuts
Combine cheese, honey, cornstarch, lemon juice and lemon zest in a food processor and process until smooth. Pour this mixture into a saucepan and heat over low heat just until the mixture begins to boil. Stir constantly to prevent scorching. Chill the mixture completely before frosting the top of the cake. After frosting the cake, sprinkle the top with nuts.
My husband absolutely loves this one and so do the sons:
Low-Fat Chocolate Pudding
1 pkg. (10.5 ounces) extra-firm tofu
½ cup honey
¼ cup dutch processed cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
Blend the tofu in a blender until creamy and smooth.
In a small bowl, heat the honey in a microwave until it is very hot, but not boiling. Add the cocoa powder to the hot honey and combine until it is fully dissolved and blended well. Add vanilla and combine well.
Add the honey/cocoa mix to the tofu and blend several seconds more until both are well combined and smooth.
Pour the mixture into serving cups (4) and chill completely before serving (2-3 hours).
Jazz it up by adding chocolate curls to the top of each cup.
My personal favorite, and that of my mother’s is…
Low-Fat Lemon Pudding
2/3 cup boiling water
1 pkg. of lemon gelatin (Jello here)
1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese
1 pkg. (8 oz) of fat-free cream cheese
Pour the lemon gelatin into a medium bowl and add the boiling water, stirring until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Transfer this mixture into your blender. Add the cottage cheese and cream cheese and blend on a medium speed until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
Pour the mix into serving dishes and refrigerate about 3 hours until it is set and firm.
You can also sprinkle some graham cracker crumbs on top…kinda reminiscent of a lemony cheesecake and delicious!
