Low-fat Dessert Recipes

Serves 4

3/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk

olive oil cooking spray

410g can apricot halves in natural juice, drained, halved

200g low-fat apricot yogurt

1. Combine flour, sugar and dried apricots in a bowl. Beat egg and buttermilk in a jug. Gradually stir egg mixture into flour mixture until well combined.

2. Spray a non-stick frying pan with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Pour 2 tablespoons batter into pan. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface and pancake is golden underneath. Turn and cook for 1 minute or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with remaining mixture.

3. Place 2 pancakes on each plate. Top with apricot halves and a dollop of yogurt. Serve.

Tip: Pancakes freeze well. so why not make a double batch? Allow pancakes to cool completely. Stack between sheets of baking paper and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To reheat, microwave on MEDIUM (50%) for 1 minute per pancake.

Serves 8

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

60g reduced-fat dairy spread, chopped

1 egg

1/3 cup skim milk

Low-fat ice-cream (optional), to serve

Syrup

3/4 cup white sugar

40g reduced-fat dairy spread

2 tablespoons golden syrup

2 small oranges, juiced

1. Make syrup: Place sugar, dairy spread, golden syrup, 1/4 cup orange juice and 3/4 cup water in a deep, large frying pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil.

2. Meanwhile, sift flour into a bowl. Add chopped dairy spread. Using your fingertips, rub dairy spread into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center. Beat egg and milk in a jug. Stir into flour mixture to form a sticky batter.

3. Drop tablespoonfuls of batter into boiling syrup to make 16 dumplings. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon a little syrup over dumplings. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until dumplings are plump and cooked through.

4. Spoon dumplings into bowls. Drizzle with a little syrup. Serve with ice-cream, if desired.

Serves 8

olive oil cooking spray

250g reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

425g can blueberries in syrup, well drained

60g dried mixed fruit

1/4 cup blanched almonds, chopped

8 sheets filo pastry

2 cups low-fat vanilla custard

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F). Lightly spray a flat baking tray with oil.

2. Beat cream cheese in a bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Stir in blueberries, dried fruit and almonds.

3. Place 1 pastry sheet on workbench. Lightly spray with oil. Top with another pastry sheet. Spray with oil. Repeat with remaining pastry sheets and oil until you have 8 layers. Spoon blueberry mixture along one long edge of pastry, leaving a 7cm border at both short ends. Fold ends in and roll up to enclose filling.

4. Place filo roll on prepared tray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until pastry is golden. Slice strudel and serve warm with vanilla custard.

Serves 8

olive oil cooking spray

2 cups self-raising flour, sifted

1 cup caster sugar

3/4 cup smooth apple sauce

1 cup skim milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 cups boiling water

pure icing sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Lightly spray a 2-litre capacity ovenproof dish with oil.

2. Combine flour and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl. Beat apple sauce, milk and vanilla in a jug. Pour into flour mixture and stir gently to combine. Spoon into prepared dish.

3. Combine cocoa powder and remaining 1/2 cup sugar and sprinkle over pudding. Carefully boil boiling water over pudding (do not mix). Place dish on a flat baking tray. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into top of pudding comes out clean. Dust with icing sugar. Serve warm with low-fat ice-cream or vanilla custard, if desired.

Tip: To reduce kilojoules (calories) in these recipes even further, try using a granulated artificial sweetening product (I use Splenda) instead of sugar.