single desserts

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Mr_Stephenson
Mr_Stephenson Posts: 23 Member
in Recipes
I am the epitome of the eternal bachelor and now the cupboards have been emptied of all the very high calorie and fat dessert items it is time to work on this aspect of my food intake.

I love baking and will not consider a main meal without some form of substantial dessert as these are one of the few things that in my eyes make life worth living. I am looking for some ideas that match the following criteria:

1. UK based recipes (sorry, but measuring butter in cups seems impractical to me)
2. Items that taste fantastic (as opposed to those that you must convince yourself taste just as good as the real thing).
3. Either single portions to be eaten on the day or those that will last a week in an airtight container.
4. No alcohol (straight edge).
5. Substantial... tiny portions are just disappointing for everyone.

Would anyone have some good ideas to get me started? The knowledge of crowds is often far more effective than the endless research opportunities offered by Google.

Thanks everyone,

Replies

  • asarwe
    asarwe Posts: 73 Member
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    Fruit with some dark chocolate? Dark-chocolate gino (substitute dark for the white chocolate and use less). Serve with some yoghurt.

    Strawberries and milk or yoghurt (unsweetened)

    Try to find some recipe for cupcakes etc using apple sauce instead of fat.

    I saw a recipe (in swedish) for raw-food brownies today. They looked really yummy.

    Why not put stuff in the freezer.

    I occasionally make apple crumble using only apples, a little sugar, a lot of cinnamon and some muesli (unsweetened, but with lots of fruit in it).

    I happen to think fruit is good enough for dessert on most days though, so maybe I don't give the best advice. It also depends on your daily calorie alotment.

    Generally: Reduce the fat in your baking, sweeten with fruits or honey rather than refined sugar. Use small amounts of dark chocolate instead of a lot of light chocolate
  • Mr_Stephenson
    Mr_Stephenson Posts: 23 Member
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    The freezer idea is one I have considered but because I rarely use it I have little understanding of how it will impact of the flavour and texture of baked goods (especially cakes). I tend to cook everything from the raw ingredients on the day it is eaten (with the exception of cakes which I hope to last a few days).

    My freezer currently contains 1 pack of frozen peas, a tray of egg whites, a tray of ice cubes, one tub of vegetable peelings for stock and two containers of home made soup for those occasions I arrive home far too late to cook anything.

    So there is definitely plenty of room in there.
  • Corjogo
    Corjogo Posts: 201 Member
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    Greek yogurt is a staple in my kitchen, plain for savory and fruited for dessert. I make my own so I can control the nutritional aspects. Use applesauce for oil in a lot of baked goodies, crepes, waffles, etc. Oatmeal makes anything hardy and healthier. Peanut butter (I use powdered at half the calories) makes a tasty dish, that is quite satisfying. Use a sugar substitute that is blended especially for desserts that require baking. (They are usually 1/2 sugar and 1/2 substitute and I find they work quite well.) Try to provide some protein in the dessert. As for recipes - pick your favorite and make adjustments...try checking on Pinterest.com they have a lot. Sorry I don't cook metric style so I can't help you there. When a recipe is posted that I want to try I copy it down, make any conversions at that time - then I'm ready to go when the urge for that taste hits me. Good luck.
  • Mr_Stephenson
    Mr_Stephenson Posts: 23 Member
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    Thanks Corjogo,

    Powdered peanut butter is not available in the UK, while I have often made my own peanut butter I thought it would be horrendously high in pretty much everything so this is something I will definitely look into.

    I've never really liked the chemical after-taste of foods that use sugar substitutes, but the apple sauce as oil idea sounds interesting as I have no idea how that would work.

    So even more new ideas to try.
  • Pinkigloopyxie
    Pinkigloopyxie Posts: 231
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    You could always make low cal frozen pudding popsicles or frozen yogurt bars.

    Although my frozen yogurt always comes out hard......
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
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    Look at getting graze boxes, but just keep the sweet ones on so that's all you get and check out a website Chocolatecoveredkate has single serving recipes... Also look up Nancy Clarke banana bread.. It's on here too. You can add anything you like to it... Yummy,filling satisfying and pretty healthy! X
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
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    Also fage 2% Greek yogurt with berries or honey. Yummy great dessert with good macros! Fage is on my diary virtually every day x
  • tommygirl15
    tommygirl15 Posts: 1,012 Member
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    (dark) chocolate covered strawberries!
  • dillydally123
    dillydally123 Posts: 139 Member
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    profiteroles can be ok if you're clever about what you stuff them with and portion control on the sauce. flavoured creme-fresh or yohgurt or soy ice cream that sort of thing. i think with all desserts portion control is the thing.

    also sorbet is lo-cal but i dont' have a recipe.
  • dillydally123
    dillydally123 Posts: 139 Member
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    waiiiiiiiit.
    i forgot about custard. how the frick did i forget about custard. sorry custard, old pal.

    i make it with one egg yolk one tablespoon of sugar and low fat milk. as long as you beat the egg and the sugar to kingdomcome first and then put it on the heat add the milk stirring all the time and don't let it boil it will thicken. it won't be like birds custard thick but like cremeanglais or something. and if you do drop the ball and it separates just put it through a sieve and it will pull itself together.

    baked apples with brown sugar and raisins are apparently a healthy dessert but in my opinion they taste like pants. i much prefer poached pairs, but normally done in alcohol - but there must be an alternative.
  • hattie491145
    hattie491145 Posts: 85 Member
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    I like simple desserts and I'm a big fan of the ramekin - you can make and freeze individual portions of any "baked" dessert - especially crumbles. If they are too calorific I put any fruit, (nectarines especially) add a splash of good vanilla and leave to poach on the lowest heat til soft. No sugar needed. Last week I did pear and plum and a little mixed spice. Portion into ramekins and keep in fridge or freezer til needed. I have hot or cold with greek yoghurt. If inclined towards a healthy crunch, sprinkle a little granola style cereal on top.

    My big favourite is the muffin, which I bake and freeze in batches of 12, then microwave one straight from frozen for 30 seconds for that "just out of the oven" warmth. Pumpkin based muffins often use it in place of butter and are still very moist and carry spice very well. The Smitten Kitchen pumpkin muffin (I know you dont like cups, but it is very good and about 177 cals a muffin), you could spread with a little cream cheese. If you are desperate, pm me and I will give you the cup to gram conversions. Tinned pumpkin is available at waitrose and on amazon (i think waitrose is cheaper)

    If no one has mentioned it, frozen bananas (peeled first) straight in the food processor makes instant banana ice-cream, and you can use as many or as few as you like.-on the side of the pumpkin muffin would be very good, A lot of folks freeze grapes for a frozen sweet.
  • ay1978pa
    ay1978pa Posts: 142 Member
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    Dark chocolate covered prunes (made them last night). You only need two ingredients - dried pitted prunes and semi-sweet (dark) chocolate chips. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, coat the prunes in it (easily done with two forks), place on foil wrapped cookie sheet and stick them in the fridge for half an hour to set. They can be stored in an airtight container forever.

    I calculated the calories myself. Weigh the bowl with the chocolate chips before melting, then again after you're done dipping the prunes. The difference is whatever chocolate you used. Then add the calories for your prunes. Divide the total by the number of prunes. Mine came up to 32.4 cal per bite.
  • Mr_Stephenson
    Mr_Stephenson Posts: 23 Member
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    More fantastic ideas here, thanks again.

    Love the banana ice-cream idea and I might try that one tomorrow (off to buy some bananas now).

    I've added Greek yoghurt, dried fruit, dark chocolate, vanilla pods and a variety of muffin ingredients to the list... may try the crumbles too since I'm sure someone will have surplus of fruit soon.
  • SUSANSIZZY
    SUSANSIZZY Posts: 16 Member
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    My Cupcakes: 1 "sugar free" cake mix. Mix with applesauce instead of oil, use 4 egg whites instead of 3 eggs, use the same amount of water indicated. Bake as indicated, makes 24 cupcakes. When ready to eat top with 1 tablespoon of "no sugar added" cherry pie filling (or any flavor available). These can be refridgerated or froze for a pretty long time. We eat 2 cupcakes at a time, but you can cut the calories in half by eating just one. Total Calories (2) 148, Total Fat=2, Total Carbs = 26. Total Protien = 3.

    This recipe is from the U.S.A. figure it should be easy enough to convert if you want to try it. Hope you enjoy.
  • biodorkus
    biodorkus Posts: 8 Member
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    I highly recommend you check out Chocolate-Covered Katie's "healthy dessert" blog... she's vegan, so her recipes are all made without butter and she gives many options for sweeteners in each recipe (sugar, xylitol, stevia, agave, maple syrup, etc) so you can modify to your dietary needs. She's also a fan of using things like nut butters as a fat source rather than regular oil when possible, and has a TON of single-serve dessert recipes! (You'll have to forgive the name "single lady" cupcakes, haha.) Don't be intimidated when she calls for non-dairy milk if you're not into that sort of thing (although Blue Diamond Almond Milk is really good), because you can easily use regular milk in her recipes. Oh, and last thing: she lived in Japan for a number of years and so lists her ingredients in both English and metric units. (c:

    http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/chocolate-covered-recipes/single-serving-desserts/
  • Mr_Stephenson
    Mr_Stephenson Posts: 23 Member
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    Thanks Sjrnana, I'll give them a go in the coming weeks I also have to say I love the chocolate covered Katie blog.

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