Personal Accounts

Pamz Low Fat Carrot Cake

I often get inspiration from my husband who casually mentions if I had ever cooked a particular dish. Oh course that always tweaks my competitive nature:  not only to prepare the dish, but to find a healthy alternative to what he grew up with.  This week's suggestion was carrot cake. 

I recall making carrot cake  when I was a child under my mom's direction.   Everyone seems to think that carrot cake is healthy because it has carrots in it, and it didn't seem to bother me that you added a cup or so of oil to make it moist. 

When I became more health conscious in my 20s the thought of carrot cake was so repulsive because of all the oil.  When my husband mentioned carrot cake the other day I thought that by now there should have been many cooks who have experimented with my favorite baking ingredient, applesauce.  Sure enough, there are plenty, and I have adopted a few recipes to come up with this version which satisfied my husband's "blue blood" taste buds.  If you don't want to go out and buy crushed pineapple this is a great recipe to try.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons apple butter
• 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sucralose
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (or sucralose blend)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup unbleached flour*
• 1 cup whole wheat flour*
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3 cups of grated carrots
• 1 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coat a 9" x 9" baking pan with non-fat cooking spray.  I like silicon pans.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the apple butter, applesauce, eggs, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
4. Next, slowly add flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon to the mixture.
5. Blend until all of the ingredients are moistened.
6. Lightly mix in the grated carrots and raisins
7. Pour into baking pan.
8. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes.

To keep calories down, go without a topping, or go light.  Use your imagination:  powdered sugared, light icing made of powered sugar and milk, or a low fat cream cheese icing.

*to increase your fiber intake in this recipe, use all whole wheat flour but add a little more applesauce if the batter looks a little dry.

Pamz Guilt Free Pumpkin Pie Tartlets

Denial is such any ugly word, especially when it comes to the holidays.  Deny yourself too much and you find yourself overindulging.  The key is not to feel like you are being denied of anything, but if that doesn't help, here is a wondeful way to have your pumpkin pie and be able to eat it, too.It doesn't have a crust, is portion controlled, but has all the yummy taste of the full fat original.

Low Fat Pumpkin Tartlets

• 8 foil baking cups
• non stick cooking spray
• 1/4 cup sucralose sugar subsititute
• 1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 large egg white
• 1 cup of pumpkin pure
• 3/4 cup fat free evaporated milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place baking cups on a baking sheet .  Spray each cup with cooking spray.
2. Combine sugar, constarch, cinnamon, ginger and salt in small bowl.
3. Beat egg white in a larger bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar mixture into the egg white. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. 
4. Fill cups 3/4 full and bake until knife comes out clean.  30 - 40 minutes.
5. Cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes, then refrigerate for at least one hour.
6. To serve, remove tin foil and decorate.  Use a non-fat topping, and to give the crunch of pie crust you may wish to use a few pieces of ginger snap cookies.  I love ShaSha cookies made here in Toronto.

This recipe makes 8 tarts.  Serve 2 to each guest so serves 4.
 

The secret to the Perfect Sorbet is as easy as floating an egg!

A great post by Zoe Baker, a talented pastry chef willing to share some tricks of the trade.  I love the idea of making sorbet but always had it come out icy.  Here is how to remedy that problem and enjoy fat free cool treat. 

A link to her blog page, the contents listed below:

http://zoebakes.com/2011/03/31/sorbet-101-a-trick-to-getting-a-smooth-sorbet-from-any-juice/

 

Sorbet 101 – a trick to getting a smooth sorbet from any juice!

One of the reasons I went to culinary school, after working in professional kitchens for a few years, was to have an understanding of why my recipes didn’t always work. Things would succeed if I followed the recipe to the letter, but if I played or strayed at all they would have as much chance of being a disaster as they did a winner. In culinary school I learned enough about food science to be able to play with recipes or create my own from scratch. I learned why eggs should be warm when you whip them and why you should use low protein flours for cakes and higher ones for breads. They taught me about Brix, Baume and other technical ways to measure sugar in sorbet solutions so they will freeze, but not become a solid brick of ice. After school, once I could afford it, I bought a Refractometer, which shows you the sugar content in a solution. This way I can mix up a batch of any kind of fruit sorbet, add some simple syrup and the sorbet will be a success. But, what if you are just making sorbet a couple times a year, do you really need such a geeky, expensive gadget? Not unless you are a kitchen equipment hoarder, like me.

So, then what? There is another way to have a greater chance at success than just praying for the best. You can use a method that involves floating an egg in your sorbet. Yep, I said FLOATING AN EGG, the whole thing, in the shell. It is also a very cool experiment to do with your kids. As the solution gets more saturated with sugar, the egg is buoyed to the surface. Once the egg is actually floating partially above the surface, the solution has enough sugar to prevent the sorbet from being too icy. Perhaps not as impressive as whipping out your refractometer, but pretty amazing in a Beakman’s World kind of way and it allows you to make sorbet from just about any juice. Obviously, this will not work with all fruits, banana puree tends to be too thick and the egg, no matter how sweet the solution, will float on the surface. But, for citrus and other thin juices, it is wonderful.

I recently candied a bunch of citrus for an Easter cake I have been working on (more to come). After removing all the peels, I was left with a bunch of tasty fruit, which I certainly didn’t want to waste. I put the grapefruits and blood oranges in a food processor and pureed them together and put them thorough a Chinois Strainer. The result was a gorgeous, red, tangy juice. It was a bit too tangy to drink on its own, but I knew it would make a dynamite sorbet.

Fruit Juice Sorbet:

3 cups juice (your choice, just make it a thin one), chilled (if you are using lemon or lime juice, it is too intense all on its own and you should start by diluting it with some water. I usually go with 2 parts juice, 1 part water).

2 cups simple syrup (you won’t use it all, but it is better to have too much, it lasts almost forever), chilled

1 to 2 tablespoons liqueur (this is for flavor, but it also prevents the sorbet from freezing solid. Alcohol won’t freeze, so it is great insurance that you will have a soft sorbet. BUT, if you add too much sorbet won’t freeze at all and you will basically have a margarita or daiquiri!)

1 very clean egg (I wash it with dish soap and rinse several times)

To make the sorbet:

Put your juice in a container that has room to add more liquid and is deep enough that you can submerge an egg. Gently place the egg in the container. At this point it will probably sink straight to the bottom, so don’t just drop it in. If it heads to the bottom, remove it and add about 1/2 cup of the simple syrup. Stir and try the egg again.

This time when you put the egg in it should be suspended in the liquid, maybe not to the surface yet, but hovering just below. Can you see the egg in mine, I am pointing at the faint white spot under the surface. Remove the egg.

Add another 1/2 cup of the simple syrup and stir.

Place the egg in the sorbet, now you can see it starting to emerge. It needs to be about the size of a quarter above the surface to indicate that there is enough sugar in your solution.

Add it a couple of  tablespoons at a time until you have the right level.

Once it is floating high enough, add the liquor or liqueur of your choosing.

Freeze the sorbet according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

I freeze a bowl to the put the sorbet in so it won’t melt when you take it out of the machine. Freeze it immediately.

If the sorbet hardens a bit after being frozen for a couple of days, you can temper it by letting it “warm up” in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before serving.

HINT: the greatest thing about sorbet is it can be frozen, thawed and refrozen over and over. If your sorbet has been in the freezer for a while and is losing its nice texture, just thaw it and return it to the ice cream maker to freeze it again. This way you don’t have to use gums and other stabilizers to insure a great texture.

Recommended book on Sorbet and all things tasty and frozen is by David Lebovitz called The Perfect Scoop!

Enjoy!

Pamz Ultimate Guilt Free Fudge Brownies

A recipe adapted from The Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels who comes up with some great options for healthier eating to support sensible weight loss and management.  Her website:  Jillian Michaels

She had me at unsweetened applesauce as a key  ingredient... a pantry staple of mine which replaces oil in all baking and cutting fat significantly. This recipe also calls for whole wheat flour, which adds fibre.  I am fussy about sugar, but honey at least is healthy for you, and mixing the honey and cocoa does give you the look and feel of melted chocolate when you are preparing the recipe.

 I am always challenged with making indulgent desserts for family and company, ensuring I have a healthy backup for myself, which usually involves fruit.  But with this recipe you can have your "cake" and eat it, too!

 
Ingredients

• olive oil cooking spray
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cups natural, unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tblsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch square pan with olive oil. Set aside.

Place the honey in a large glass measuring cup. Microwave on high power until the honey is runny and just bubbling, 45 to 60 seconds. Add the cocoa and stir with a fork until well combined. Let cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well combined.

In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, egg, and vanilla. Whisk together until well blended. Add the honey-cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir until no traces of flour remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until the surface looks dry around the edges of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, about 25 minutes. Do not overbake.

Place the pan on a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing into 16 squares.

Store the brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Makes 16 (2-inch) brownies

Pamz Bargain Baking: Cut calories in baking by using cheaper/healthier substitutes

Everyone loves a bargain.  We all love to tell our friends about the greatest deal we scored on clothes, cars, or the latest gadget.  You would do well to also take that great satisfaction in consistently looking for ways to cut calories and making our food more healthy  without compromising taste.

Today's posting from Everyday Health has a great crib sheet of the tricks of the trade I use.   I have included my own notes in italics.  I always have unsweetened applesauce, whole wheat flour, white and brown sucralose and a container of egg whites on hand for my baking.

So next time you are looking to try a new recipe, look for ways of making it better for you and your family.

 
Baking Substitutes

An easy way to enjoy your favorite dessert recipe is to find substitutes for some of its high-fat, high-calorie ingredients. Try these substitutions to create healthier versions of your favorite treats:

• Use applesauce as a baking substitute for up to half of the oil in a recipe. (I use unsweetened applesauce and use same portions as called for)
• Use healthier whole wheat flour instead of white flour.
• Use 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder as a baking substitute for every one ounce of unsweetened chocolate.
• Replace the cream in recipes with evaporated skim milk. (I have gotten away with using skim milk)
• Use artificial sweetener instead of real sugar. (sucralose is not harmful to humans, and you can get brown version as well)
• Make up for using less sugar by adding flavor with vanilla extract or lemon zest.
• Substitute just the egg whites for whole eggs or use an egg substitute. (I will do a combo of whites and whole eggs for some recipes, like custards)
• Skip the top crust when making pies and use fresh or frozen berries rather than canned filling. (make a crumble or crisp, which I find much nicer anyway)
• Sprinkle cookies, brownies, or cakes with a little cinnamon, cocoa powder, or powdered sugar in place of frosting.

When you're making your own dessert, you're also in control of portion sizes. Bake mini cupcakes, tarts, and cookies; if baking brownies or a similar dessert in a large pan, cut the finished product into small portions so you won’t be tempted to take too much. And don't go back for seconds.

These healthy baking changes will significantly cut down on fat and calories in your sweet indulgences. You can still have the fun of baking and experimenting with recipes, but without all the guilt.