Low fat AND low sugar dessert?

song_of_calliope

I think it really depends on your personal taste. I wouldn't make a cheesecake that's low fat/sugar, as cheesecake relies so much on the "mouth feel" of the fat to make it delicious. For other cakes this isn't so much the case.

I think you can get used to eating less fat over time and you stop craving it so much, but it's difficult at first to enjoy low fat baking. I don't use substitutes like that very low fat philadelphia cream cheese or very low fat mayo because I think those taste nasty. I'd rather use a little of the good stuff than a lot of something gross.

I personally don't mind the taste of Splenda too much so I use that. Xylitol tastes better but you can get some, ummm, funny side effects that lets just say require you to be near the toilet for a few hours after eating. So not worth it!

I'm on Slimming World and when I want a treat I make the cake in this link http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world-recipes/145374-1-2-syn-fruit-roulade.html

I make it with an options sachet and chopped banana. It's eggy but good and very satisfying.

rosalie-lavender

I make muffins and have cut the sugar down to 2 oz a batch. If my hand slips and I accidentally put more sugar in by even as little of an ounce I can taste it. I usually put banana or apple and raisins in my muffins and that makes them sweet enough.

I have this low fat recipe book and there are some lovely recipes in it. They aren't all low sugar though so you do need to choose the recipe carefully if you want don't want too much sugar.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Low-Fat-Baking-Book/dp/1840387904/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1308599833&sr=8-5

puddy

thanks, the cheesecake hasnt been tasted yet, i was really patient as its supposed to set overnight after being baked.

i also used asda smart price cream cheese, it was awful, not proper cream cheese at all, filled with loads of 'stabilisers' and it was a sort of stringy, gluey consistency, should be ok for this recipe though, but i wont buy it again

SailorSam

I got some soft cheese from Asda last week, the Smartprice stuff was about 50p but there was no on the shelf, so i got other stuff that was on offer for about 75p, garlic and herb. I've not baked with it, i was putting dollops in with salad and it's quite tasty.
Next time i go in i may get a couple more to go in the freezer while they're reduced.

Raspberry_Swirl

Low fat cream cheese doesn't work in cheesecakes. I've used it before and it doesn't have a thick enough consistency once beaten to hold a firm shape. My cheeescake practically slid off the plate!!!

I know others have said the same too so don't think it's my baking skills

Boodle

I think it depends on if the recipe is supposed to be low in fat/sugar or not, i.e. there are some older cakes which were made with higher fruit content because sugar was expensive/scarce and there are some that are lower in fat because of the nature of the cake, for example tea loaves where the fruit is soaked in tea and that makes the liquid (I have one of the latter in the kitchen at the minute and very delish it is too )

purpleivy

I've never been successful with lower fat cheeses in cheesecakes and so on. I guess if you were relying on a recipe that uses gelatine to help it set then it wouldn't be a problem. No good for veggies though. :eek:

hex2

You do get used to low fat/low sugar very quickly. I couldn't eat shop cakes for years after I left home as I was used to my mothers healthy cooking, and I still (20 years on) can't stand any milk other than skim.

Try using fructose instead of sugar - tastes sweeter so you use less per slice. You can experiment with gradually reducing the sugar in things like fairy cakes and Twinks till you get a sweetness you are happy with. Switching to healthier fats is ok too - so unsaturated oils rather than butter works better for me than trying to cook with low fat spreads. Low fat yoghurts can be used quite effectively as well in baking.

ETA If you look on the Good Food website there are some good recipes about reducing fat/sugar without impacting on flavour.

natlie

Hi
I always use extra light philly in cheesecake but I wouldn't use a store's own brand - I think thats the quality issue, we use it in the restaurant to make white chocolate and blueberry cheesecake YUM. The cream kinda ruins the whole point of the low fat cheese, when makind a baked cheesecake you could use lemon and ricotta - its lower in fat or a low fat mascapone. Cheesecake isn't really meant to be low fat the butter biscuit base is a bad start - sometimes I don't do a base and just crumble amaretti on the top.

I make a lovely chocolate cake with no butter it uses olive oil instead which is much healthier and no saturated fat it uses cocoa not real chocolate but you could spoil yourself with the topping
I got the recipe here http://www.instructables.com/id/The-BEST-chococlate-cake-ever...that-happens-to-be/

Nat

puddy

thanks, this particular cheesecake is baked with eggs so i suppose they firm up the mixture, and it has firmed since yesterday after being in the fridge after cooking so maybe the fat consistency wouldnt affect that particular recipe

however, i saw a recipe today for a cheesecake using quark and low fat cream cheese, then amareti biscuits because they are lower in sugar than digestives

but i remember buying quark once and it was horrible, i suppose the sharpness is disguised with the fruit in the cheesecake but i cannot stand low fat versions of dairy products as they are normally so bitter, i cant stand low fat natural yogurt and especially low fat cottage cheese, its so bitter