Plum Cherry Clafoutis

Since returning from France, I’d been dying to try a Clafoutis.  I had a bunch of fresh plums, so I decided to try a plum variety instead of the traditional cherry version.  However, at the last moment I realized that our cherry tree was full of fresh cherries, so I decided to throw some in also.  Like most of my recipes, this Clafoutis would work with many different types of fruit.  The end result was not too sweet and excellent served with some whipped topping, whipped cream or ice cream.  Continue reading for the recipe…

Ingredients:

• 6 black plums, washed and cut into 12 wedges each
• 1 cup pitted and sliced cherries [optional]
• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup Splenda or white sugar
• 1 can light evaporated milk + add whatever skim milk necessary to make 500ml (2cups) total of evaporated milk + Milk
• 1.5 tablespoons vanilla
• a pinch of salt
• 0.5 cup whole wheat flour
• 0.5 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• Whipped topping, whipped cream or ice cream for serving [optional]

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350F
• Lightly grease a 8×12 pan (I think this recipe would work well in a variety of size pans – so use what you have, just don’t fill it TOO full)
• Melt the butter in a large frying pan, and add the sliced plums and cherries.  Sprinkle with the brown sugar, and ‘stir fry’ over a medium heat for about five minutes.  Remove from heat.
• In a sepeate bowl, wisk the eggs and splenda together until well mixed and creamy.  Add the milks, vanilla and salt and wisk until smooth.
• Sift the two flours over the batter, and wisk to incorporate.
• Take the slightly cooled plums and cherries, and carefully arrange them in the bottom of your greased baking pan.
• Pour the batter evenly over the top of the cherries/plums
• Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.  Avoid openning the oven during the cooking time.
• Serve with whipped topping, whipped cream or ice cream if desired
• Enjoy!!!

Nutritional Information:
(Based on 12 servings)

Calories: 125
Fat: 3 grams
Carbs: 18g
Protein: 7 grams

(Recipe adapted from “Black Plum Clafoutis” from Orangette)

Cherry Almond Protein Pancakes with Fruit Salad

Protein pancakes are definitely my most frequently used recipe.  Why?  They are delicious, quick, and healthy, plus they can be adapted to suit whatever ingredients you have available.  They are equally excellent served warm or cold – and the perfect way to get a TON of protein without meat.  The other day I tried a Cherry/Almond combination for the first time, and it was definitely along my favourite combinations!  You can use different types of nut butters, different flavoured protein, add spices/raisins/nuts as you desire, use different fruit in the pancakes (or leave it out all together) – whatever you like!  The recipe below will make too generous portions of pancakes, and should definitely leave you nice and full!

Ingredients:

• 0.5 cup rolled oats
• 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein powder
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tablespoon low fat milk
• 10 almonds, coarsely chopped
• 15 cherries, coarsley chopped (with pits removed!)
• 1 cup egg whites
• Dash of cream of tarter
• Fruit salad for serving (optional)

Method:

• In a medium sized bowl, combine the oats, whey protein powder and baking powder.  Add the almond butter and milk, and stir as well as possible (its OK if not all the dry ingredients get wet)
• In a separate, clean bowl, beat the egg whites with a dash of cream of tarter until the whites are foamy (with no liquid whites left)
• Take one scoop of the egg whites, and slowly incorporate it into the oat mixture, to loosen the mixture.  Add the rest of the egg whites and slowly mix it all together.
  Note: At first it will look like a TON of egg whites compared to the other ingredients.  Its OK.  Stir it all together until all the egg whites are coloured with the rest of the batter – this may take a few minutes!
• Carefully stir in the chopped cherries and almonds
• In a pre-heated frying pan (sprayed with some cooking spray), drop a scoop of the batter.  Let cook on one side, and flip to cook the other side.  This is just like any other pancakes – when the batter on the raw side starts bubbling, its time to flip them!\
• Repeat with the rest of the batter.

You can eat these pancakes plain on the go – but they may be a little dry.  My favourite it to serve them with a fresh made fruit salad (I just chop up whatever fruit I have available) and maybe some yogurt or cottage cheese.  You could probably use butter/jam/syrup like regular pancakes if you wanted!

Nutritional Information:
(Based on 2 servings)

Calories: 300
Fat: 14 grams
Carbs: 40g
Fiber: 6g
Protein: 40 grams

Mango Banana Bread

I had one mango left that I needed to use before it spoiled, so I thought I’d give a mango bread a try!  I was worried about not having enough mango (I like a lot of fruit in my bread) so I added a banana.  It took awhile to bake, but it was a nice after dinner snack!

Ingredients:

• 3 Eggs
• 0.5 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 0.25 cup plain skim yogurt
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 0.5 cup oat flour
• 0.5 cup oats
• 0.5 cup wheat bran
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1.5 tsp ginger (I used fresh grated ginger)
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 0.25 tsp salt
• 0.2 cup brown sugar
• 0.5 cup splenda (or white sugar)
• 1 mango, diced
• 1 banana, chopped
• 0.25 cup raisins
• 0.25 cup chopped dried mango (increase raisins to 0.5 cup if you don’t have dried mango on hand)
• Zest of one lime

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350F
• Grease a 8×5 loaf pan
• Mix the flour, oat flour, oats, wheat bran, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, salt, brown sugar, splenda, and lime zest together in a large bowl
• Add the applesauce, yogurt, eggs, and mix until all dry ingredients are wet
• Add the mango, banana, raisins and chopped mango and stir well
• Spread batter into the prepared loaf pan
• Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 50 minutes (cover the loaf with tin foil if the top is browning too quickly after about 30 minutes)
• Enjoy!!!

Nutritional Information:
(Based on 10 servings)

Calories: 170
Fat: 2 grams
Carbs: 42g
Fiber: 6g
Protein: 5 grams

(Recipe adapted from “Fresh Mango Bread” from BakingwiththeBoys)

Blueberry Ice Cream

Ever crave rich creamy ice cream but not want all the fat/sugar/additives?  Well I discovered the perfect solution this weekend – and its fat free, low calorie, full of antioxidants/vitamins and FAST (as it less than 5 minutes!).  And best of all, it doesn’t even require an ice cream maker!  This fat free ice cream could be made with any combination of yogurt and frozen fruit.  So far I’ve tried this blueberry version, as well as Peach + rum (yes, I added a shot of rum hehe).  I can’t wait to make a ‘pina colada’ version with vanilla yogurt, frozen pineapple, rum and coconut extract!  See the recipe below

Ingredients:

• 1.25 cups fat free fruit flavoured yogurt (for the blueberry version I used blueberry yogurt.  Vanilla would have also worked)
• 1.75 cups unsweetened frozen fruit (for the blueberry version, I obviously used frozen blueberries.  For other flavours, you could try peaches, strawberries, raspberries, pineapple, mango, etc…)
• Splenda to taste (I used only a few tablespoons with the blueberries, as the yogurt was already sweet)

Method:

• (Makes 4 small servings)
• Place half of the yogurt into a food processor (a blender will also work, but takes a bit more patience as you’ll have to stop and stir it a few times)
• Start the food processor.  Drop in a few pieces of fruit at a time (through the top feeder) as the yogurt blends. 
• Once you’ve added about half the fruit, stop the processor and add the rest of the yogurt. 
• Repeat the process adding all remaining fruit.
• You can serve this right away, but ideally stick it in the freezer for approximately 2-4 hours.  Give it a good stir before serving
• I have yet to determine what happens if you leave this in the freezer for longer than a few hours – it may turn hard and requiring some softening/stirring before serving.
• Enjoy!!!

Nutritional Information:
(Based on 4 servings)

Calories: 70
Fat: 0.5 grams
Protein: 4 grams

(Recipe adapted from “Five minute ice cream” from allrecipes.com)

Mango Salsa & Cinnamon Chips

 

The best part about this simple recipe is that it can easily be adjusted to include different types of fruit, depending what is in season.  I’ve tried many different combinations, and find it is especially great when mangos are included! 

Ingredients:

For the Salsa…

• 2 Apples, cored and chopped
• 2 Kiwis, peeled and chopped
• 1 large Mango, peeled and chopped
• 10 large Strawberries, husked and chopped
• 0.75 cup of blueberries
• 1-2 tablespoons of fruit preserves (any flavour, pick one without a lot of added sugar)

(Other fruit options: bananas, oranges, peaches, raspberries, etc…)

For the Cinnamon Chips…

• 10 (10″) tortillas
• Pam cooking spray
• 1 cup Splenda or white sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Method:  

For the Salsa…

1. Gently combine all the chopped fruit with the preserves
2. Chill until ready to serve

For the Chips…

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
2. Cut each tortilla into 6 wedges
3. Mix the splenda (or sugar) and cinnamon in a large ziplock bag
4. Working with 2 or 3 tortilla wedges at a time, lightly coat each wedge side with the cooking spray and drop them into the ziplock bag.  Seal the bag and shake to coat the wedges
5. Place the wedges in one layer on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Repeat with all wedges
6. Bake wedges in pre-heated oven for 8 minutes
7. Enjoy with the fruit salsa!

Calories: 50
Fat: 0.2g

(Based on “Annie’s Fruit Salsa” from Allrecipes.com)

I think this cake is officially my new favourite!  I love the flavour of all the limes, and this cake wasn’t too sour or too sweet.  It was the perfect way to end a barbeque on a sunny Saturday evening.  Continue reading for the recipe, nutritional information, and more photos!Ingredients:

For the Cake…

• 1 cup cake flour*
• 0.5 cup splenda or white sugar (divided)
• 0.5 tbsp baking powder
• 0.25 tsp salt
• 0.5 cup lime juice (the juice of approximately 3 limes)
• Zest of one lime
• 2.5 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs (separated)
• Strips/slices of lime for decoration

* I didn’t have cake flour on hand, so I just blended enough all purpose flour in a blender to make one cup.  This seemed to work fine!

For the Mousse…

• 2 eggs (separated)
• 6 -8 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 0.5 cup water
• 1 tbsp gelatine powder
• 0.5 cup plain fat free yogurt

  Method:  

For the Cake…

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 9″ springform pan with parchment paper.  Grease paper and sides lightly with cooking spray
2. Sift the flour, splenda or sugar (reserve one tablespoon), baking powder and salt into a large bowl
3. In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, applesauce, lime zest, vanilla and egg yolks.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine well.
5. In a separated bowl, whip the egg whites.  When they start to hold their shape, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar or splenda.  Continue whipping until soft peaks form.
6. Fold egg whites into the batter.
7. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared tin.
8. Bake for approximately 28 minutes, or until top springs back lightly when touched
9. Once cooled, remove the cake from the pan and use a large bread knife to carefully cut the cake horizontally into two equal layers.  Place the bottom layer back into the springform pan.  Keep the top layer off to the side.

Batter ready to go in pan

For the Mousse…

1. Beat the egg yolks, splenda or sugar, and lime rind and juice together.  I would suggest starting with less sugar at this point.  You can add more, if necessary, near the end.
2. Place the water in a small heat proof bowl.  Sprinkle the gelatin on top, and let it sit for a few minutes until it begins to get gel-y.  Bring a small sauce pan of water to a simmer on the stove.  Place your heatproof bowl (with water and gelatine) on top of the simmering water.  Stir until the gelatine is fully dissolved in the water.  Remove the bowl from the heat and let it cool.
3. Once cooled, stir the dissolved gelatin into the yolk mixture. 
4. Fold the plain yogurt into the yolk mixture.  Let bowl sit and start to set while you continue.
5. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Carefully fold into the gelatine mixture.
6. Taste the mixture and add some additional sugar if necessary.  It doesn’t need to be very sweet, as it is going to be in a fairly sweet cake!
7. Spread the mousse over the bottom layer of the cake in the springform pan.  Refridgerate the mousse and bottom layer until mousse is set
8. Before serving, top the mousse with the top layer of the cake.  Decorate with lime rind and slices.
9. Enjoy!

Assembled Lime Cake

Nutritional Information:
(Based on 8 slices per cake)

Calories: 111 (180 if made with sugar instead of splenda)
Fat: 2.9g
Protein: 6g

(Cake Recipe adapted from “Lime Chiffon Cake” from BakingBites.com.  Mousse layer adopted from “Lemon Chiffon Cake” from The Ultimate Low Fat Baking Book)

Lemon Loaf

  Photo taken by Daniel M, for more photos, see:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/f1daniel/

In case it isn’t apparent yet, I’ve tried lots of lemon-flavoured desserts!  I really liked that this cake was flavourful without being too overpowering.  Beating the egg whites to soft peaks before folding them into the loaf resulted in a dessert that was lighter than many of the quick breads I’ve previously tried.  Continue reading for the recipe and nutritional informationIngredients:

• 2 eggs (seperated)
• 0.4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1.2 cups splenda (or white sugar)
• Zest from one medium lemon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1.6 cups flour (I used all purpose in this recipe – I didn’t want to overpower the lemon flavour)
• 0.24 tsp baking soda
• 0.5 cup low fat milk
• Strips of lemon peel and confectioner’s sugar (for decoration)

 Method:  

1. Pre-heat oven to 325F. Grease a 9×5″ loaf pan
2. Beat the splenda (white sugar) and applesauce together.
3. Stir in the egg yolks, lemon juice and zest.
4. Sift in the flour and baking soda
5. Add the milk
6. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Carefully fold the whites into the batter, being sure to fully incorporate it
7. Spread the mixture into the greased pan.
8. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
9. Once cooled, sift confectioner’s sugar over the top and decorate with lemon peels

Nutritional Information:
(Based on 10 slices per loaf with powdered sugar)

Calories: 105
Fat: 1.2g
Carbs: 19.5g
Fiber: 0.7g
Protein: 3.6g

(Recipe adapted from “Great Grandma’s Lemon Cake” from The Taste of Home Baking Book)

Banana Muffins with Greek Yogurt & Coconut

These muffins are a perfect alternative to banana bread.  With thick yogurt, toasted coconut and chopped walnuts on top, they definitely don’t need any icing!  I ran into some trouble while trying to strain regular yogurt – so I recommend you just buy thick greek yogurt in the first place!  (Regular yogurt will work fine as well, it will just be a bit runnier!)  Continue reading to see the recipe and nutritional informationIngredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 0.5 cup all purpose flour
• 0.5 cup splenda (or white sugar)
• 0.25 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 0.5 tsp nutmeg
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 4 ripe large bananas, mashed
• 1 egg
• 0.3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 0.5 cup low fat thick greek yogurt (use low fat plain or vanilla yogurt if you can’t find greek yogurt)
• 0.25 cup unsweetened toasted coconut
• 0.25 cup chopped walnuts

 Method:  

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180F)
2. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl
3. Mix all wet ingredients together.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and combine until just mixed
5. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cups (you may want to spray the paper cups with some Pam, as the muffins seem to stick to the paper)
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 22 minutes
7. Cool the muffins and remove from pan
8. Before serving, top each muffin with a scoop of yogurt.  Sprinkle coconut and walnuts on top.

Nutritional Information:
(Based on 12 muffins, with yogurt, coconut and walnuts)

Calories: 140
Fat: 2.7g
Carbs: 27.3g
Fiber: 2.6g
Protein: 3.7g

(Recipe based on “Banana Muffins with Yogurt & Coconut” from Souvlaki for the Soul)

Cinnamon Carrot Bread

 

I love recipes for desserts that incorporate fruits/vegetables so I was excited to give this Cinnamon Carrot loaf a try!  It ended up being very special – its officially the first recipe that Daniel (AKA official photographer/taste-tester) gave a perfect rating.  With 2.5 grams of fat, this bread is a perfect alternative to greasy carrot cake.  Best of all – it is FAST and very easy!  Click on ‘more’ for the recipe and nutritional information.Ingredients:

• 0.5 cup splenda (or white sugar)
• 6 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 0.75 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 0.5 tsp nutmeg
• 2 pinches salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 0.25 cup chopped nuts
• 0.25 cup rains
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

 Method:  

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F (175C).  Grease a 9×5″ loaf pan
2. Beat the sugar and applesauce together.
3. Sift the dry ingredients into the applesauce mixture. 
4. Add the eggs, carrots, nuts, raisins and vanilla.  Stir it all together.
5. Spread into the loaf pan and level the mixture.
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 50-55 minutes

Nutritional Information:
(Based on 12 slices per loaf)

Calories: 160 calories
Fat: 2.5g

(Recipe adapted from “Cinnamon Carrot Bread” from Allrecipes.com)