Desserts - how to stay in control

Written by Catherine Saxelby on Friday, 07 September 2012.
Tagged: balanced diet, eating out, guides, healthy cooking, healthy eating, tips, weight loss

Desserts - how to stay in control
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Do you have a sweet tooth? Love to check out the desserts on the menu before anything else? Rather than denying yourself (and binging later on), here's how you can indulge a little yet still eat light and not blow everything!

Start with fruit

With fruit as the basis of your desserts, you will always find it easy to make them low-fat. Fruit is naturally sweet, refreshes and cleanses the mouth, is full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and is low in fat. Something fruity works well after a heavy or spicy main such as a curry.

Try these:

  • Rockmelon or papaya topped with the pulp from a fresh passionfruit
  • Fruit yoghurt topped with sliced kiwi fruit or strawberries
  • Slices of oranges layered with a few cloves and topped with a splash of sweet dessert wine or orange liqueur
  • Sliced bananas baked with orange juice, cinnamon and honey
  • Pear halves poached in white wine, sugar and grated fresh ginger

    Grilled fruit

    Pineapple, nectarines, apricots and peaches all lend themselves to a super-quick dessert. It's dead simple - or I wouldn't be telling you about it! Prepare the fruit by cutting in half and removing the stone or peeling and cutting a whole pineapple. Sprinkle or coat in brown sugar and place under a preheated grill for 3-5 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Add a little ground nutmeg or fresh grated ginger before grilling if you fancy. It goes golden and yummy with a hint of caramelised sugar. Serve with low-fat ice cream or anything from the list below ....

    Low fat sides

    Swap cream or high fat premium ice cream sides with:

    • Thick vanilla yoghurt with a sprinkle of cinnamon
    • Low-fat custard
    • Greek yoghurt
    • Ricotta mixed with honey and grated lemon rind (add a spoonful or two of vanilla yoghurt if too thick)
    • Low-fat vanilla ice cream
    • Gelato - I love lemon best.

    And to finish it off, add a sponge finger biscuit, thin almond wafer or biscotti for flavour with minimum fat.

    Love pastry?

    If you crave a pastry, here are two ways to cut the kilojoules without cutting any of the satisfaction:

    1. For a fruit pie, only use one crust - the top or bottom. It not only halves the fat and kilojoules, it also saves you time.

    2. Use filo pastry (about 3g fat/100g) instead of high fat pastries, such as puff or shortcrust (about 40g fat/100g), to encase apples or apricots in crisp, paper-thin layers. Before baking lightly brush pastry with canola oil (or use a spray) or orange juice.

    You can't beat berries

    Berry-dessertBerries make the most sensational end to any meal and have one of the lowest kilojoule counts of all fruit. At around 250 kilojoules (60 Calories) for a 200g punnet, you can afford to have a big helping of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries or blackberries.

    And when they are out of season, simply buy them frozen from your supermarket.

    • Sprinkle berries with caster sugar and balsamic vinegar or soak in orange juice and sugar that has been warmed in the microwave.
    • For a fast and simple dessert, puree strawberries or raspberries with orange liqueur or orange juice, then pour puree over ½ cup berry or vanilla yoghurt. Sprinkle with a few whole berries to serve.

    Dessert control when dining out

    As a general guide, when you're eating out, follow these tips for dessert:

    • Have a small portion - three mouthfuls is enough to satisfy and give you a decent taste without overloading yourself.
    • Share a dessert between two people.
    • Eat half and ask for the leftover packed to take home with you. 
    • If you order a tart or slice, eat the fruity filling only, leaving the crumb base or pie crust.