Category Archives: Dessert

Grapefruit Mousse

May 6, 2010 admin Leave a comment

Because of the egg white contribution to this recipe, it almost tasted more like a thinner meringue than it did a mousse. But whatever the name, it was creamy, grapefruity and sweet yet tart.

4 servings
181 calories per serving

½ c 2% cottage cheese
¼ c low fat vanilla yogurt
3 T grapefruit juice
2 T honey
1/8 t kosher salt
2/3 c sifted powdered sugar
¼ c egg whites
1 c plus 2 T chopped fresh or jarred grapefruit pieces (drained well)
1 t mint leaves for garnish

Process cottage cheese, yogurt, juice, 1 T honey and salt in a blender until smooth. Beat powdered sugar and egg whites to stiff peaks (about 7 minutes). Fold cheese mix with egg whites and 1 c grapefruit – do not over mix or the fluffiness will deflate. Mix remaining 2 T grapefruit with 1 T honey for a garnish. Divide mouse into cups and garnish with grapefruit mix and mint.

Dessert, Kid Friendly, Summer

Frosty Fruit Cups

April 23, 2010 admin 1 Comment

These little desserts very much remind me of a yogurt pie recipe which I actually have scheduled to make in a couple of weeks. These only take 5 minutes to throw together and they are so sweet and tart ! You can really use any flavor yogurt and any chopped fruit so mix it up and have some fun 🙂

12 servings
74 calories per serving

2 c nonfat orange yogurt
17 oz. can apricot halves, drained and chopped
¼ c chopped pecans

Combine yogurt and fruit. Divide among 12 muffin cups and sprinkle with nuts. Freeze 2 hours and them remove from cups and serve in small bowls. I use silicone cups for desserts such as these. (they are also great for making cupcakes !!)

If they remain frozen for more than a couple of hours, defrost for 10 minutes or so before serving.

Dessert

Coffee and Ice Cream

April 21, 2010 admin Leave a comment

Vanilla ice cream rolled in white chocolate shavings and covered in a coffee and Kahlua Syrup – how decadent is that ? 🙂

6 servings
98 calories per serving

3 c non fat vanilla ice cream, softened
2 oz. grated white chocolate
½ c black coffee, at room temperature
1/3 c coffee liqueur (Kahlua)

Scoop ice cream to form 6 balls and place on a sheet and place in freezer until the balls are firm. Then roll them in the chocolate. Mix Kahlua and coffee and divide among 6 bowls. Place a ball in each bowl.

Dessert, Kid Friendly

Strawberry Brownie Cake

April 19, 2010 admin Leave a comment

Since you start with brownie mix, this one couldn’t be easier. And the results are quite elegant, quite decadent and very chocolatey Make this one the next time you have guests over and you can have a full portion of dessert for under 400 calories !

8 servings
350 calories per serving

Brownie:
15.8 oz. package of fudge brownie mix
¼ c water
2 T oil
1 egg
Pam

Filling:
8 oz. Cool Whip Free
2 pints fresh strawberries, sliced

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 nine inch round (you could use square as well) cake pans with foil and spray with Pam. Be sure to start at one side and press the foil down into the crease before moving around – if you try to do it all at once, the foil invariably rips. Combine brownie ingredients and mix well with a spoon and pour into the 2 pans and spread out so the whole pan is covered then bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean. Cool the pans 20 minutes and then lift out foil and then cool cakes 1 hour longer. Place one brownie top side down on plate and spread with ½ the Cool Whip and lay on ½ the strawberry slices. Place the second brownie on top, top side up and spread with the rest of the Cool Whip and the rest of the strawberries. Placing the first one down with the top toward the plate means the 2 layers where the cakes meet are both nice and flat and this way you don’t get one sliding off the other 🙂

Dessert, Kid Friendly, Summer

Grilled Caramel Apples

April 11, 2010 admin 2 Comments

Apples and caramel – what a mix !! There’s no one here that didn’t want seconds of this tasty treat !

4 servings
245 calories per serving

2 large apples
24 caramels, unwrapped
2 t water

Heat grill and fold 4 pieces of heavy duty foil then spray with Pam. Cut apples in half and remove cores. Cut each half into 4 wedges. Place 6 caramels in center of each piece of foil and place apple wedge over and sprinkle with ½ t water. Wrap each foil packet securely and grill 15-20 minutes or until all melted. You can also do this in the oven – preheat to 425 degrees and place the packets on a cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until all is melted.

Dessert, Kid Friendly, Summer

Key Lime Pie

April 4, 2010 admin Leave a comment

This is always a crowd pleaser and people can’t believe it’s made without sugar (Equal is the sweetener here). This is a perfect and refreshing end to a meal.

8 servings
150 calories per serving

1 low fat prepared graham cracker crust
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 ¾ c skim milk
8 oz. low fat cream cheese, at room temperature
12 packets Equal
½ c fresh lime juice
Green food coloring (optional)
Lime slices (optional for garnish)

Sprinkle gelatin over ½ c milk in small pan and let stand 3 minutes then cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved. Beat cream cheese until fluffy and then beat in res of the milk and the gelatin mix. Then mix in the juice and 12 packets of Equal. Add a couple of drops of green food coloring if you wish. The pie will be very thin and runny but will firm up quickly. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Dessert, Drinks, Fruit, Kid Friendly, Snacks

Champagne Fruit

April 3, 2010 admin Leave a comment

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What a festive way to serve fruit! This was a great dessert and great drink – so colorful, so flavorful, so sweet ! It’s also a very versatile recipe – don’t like strawberries, use bananas instead….don’t like raisins, leave them out…substitute mandarin oranges for fresh oranges ! Make it your own 🙂

4 servings
82 calories per serving

½ c chopped oranges
½ c sliced banana
½ c chopped apples
½ c sliced strawberries
2 T raisins
12 oz. diet lemon lime soda

Mix fruit and spoon into fancy cups – pour soda over fruit and serve with spoons.

This is so pretty, I had to take a nice close up shot…

Dessert, Kid Friendly

Mocha Bundt

March 31, 2010 admin Leave a comment

This is a very dense cake – almost more like a brownie consistency. But no matter the consistency – it’s CHOCOLATE ! Served with a nice spritz of whipped cream, it hit the spot.

16 servings
250 calories per serving

3 1/2 c cake flour
2/3 c cocoa powder
3 T dry milk powder
1 3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
7 T margarine, softened
3/4 c Splenda
1/3 c Splenda brown sugar blend
3 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 c low fat buttermilk
3/4 c strong brewed coffee
Pam
Whipped Cream for garnish

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with Pam. Sift flour, cocoa, milk, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl beat margarine and both sugars until mixed and then beat in eggs and egg whites one at a time beating 1 minute after each egg. Combine buttermilk and coffee in a cup. Beat 1/3 if the flour mix into the margarine mix on low speed and then beat in half of the coffee mix and continue beating until the liquid is absorbed. Repeat and then pour batter into pan and smooth the top. Bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes and then on a wire rack until completely cool. Serve with whipped cream.

Dessert, Kid Friendly

Linzer Bars

March 24, 2010 admin Leave a comment

These are VERY easy to prepare and yet have a very elegant presentation. They were quite sweet and really satisfied my sugar craving !

16 servings
105 calories per serving

½ roll refrigerated sugar cookies
½ c seedless raspberry preserves
1 t cornstarch
¼ c sliced almonds

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Break up cookie dough and press it evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 8 inch square pan. Bake 15 minutes or until edges are golden. In a saucepan combine preserves and cornstarch and cook over medium heat just until it comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour preserves over crust and spread to within ¼ inch of the edge and then sprinkle with almonds. Bake another 10 minutes then cool 1 hour before cutting into bars.

Dessert, Kid Friendly, Summer

Vanilla Soft Serve Ice Cream – NO ICE CREAM MAKER NEEDED

March 17, 2010 admin Leave a comment

It is amazing how creamy of a product this turns out considering there is no ice cream maker involved. I’ve made it many times, always with good results. It’s well worth the calories 🙂 If you are lucky enough to know what Carvel ice cream tastes like – – well, this is similar !

12 ½ c servings
299 calories per serving

½ c whole milk
1 T vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/8 t salt
2 c heavy cream

Stir milk, vanilla, condensed milk and salt in a medium bowl. Beat heavy cream to stiff peaks (but don’t over beat or the cream will begin to break down) and then fold into the milk mix. Folding is just a method to mix things a little gentler than stirring. You just keep inserting a spatula or spoon UNDER the ingredients and left or fold them up on top – keep repeating to fully incorporate the ingredients. Pour into a shallow 1 ½ quart METAL (because it conducts the cold better) bowl and freeze the mix 4 hours, stirring once halfway through.

If you keep this in the freezer for more than a day, it will get very hard and you need to let it sit a few minutes before scooping out servings.

Variations:

Strawberry – omit the milk and vanilla – instead stir in 4 c pureed strawberries and 2 T corn syrup.
Coffee – add 2 T instant coffee to the milk and dissolve , then continue with other steps
Others – add 2 T flavored coffee creamers to the milk mix (Irish Cream tastes GREAT)