The word Desserts conjures up images of sinfully Gooey Cakes, Rich Mousses, Delicious Soufflés, so you rarely associate it with good health.
However if you have a sweet tooth, don’t despair, there are still ways in which you can indulge that sweet tooth and yet make it healthy!
The best dessert substitute is fruit; they are nature’s dessert. Quite simply replacing the sweet at the end of the meal with a seasonal fruit means that you have a wide variety of delicious and refreshing options that change according to the seasons.
Here are some healthy dessert ideas to help you control the calorie intake and yet indulge your sweet tooth:
- Slice fresh mixed fruit and chill it. Just before serving, add low fat yoghurt or a whipped topping (also low fat) to it. For some added flavor, sprinkle a dash of cinnamon on top/
- Take a peach or an apple; halve it. Lightly spray on some canola oil onto the two halves. On to this sprinkle some brown sugar. Bake or grill this for a few minutes until the fruit softens and you can smell the lovely fragrance of sweet fruit. Use some low fat whipped topping just before serving
- Sugar free jello is a good option too, and can taste great with some low fat topping. Just a note here about ‘sugar free’ products – though they claim to have few calories or zero sugar, they have been known to be associated with other health impacts and so cannot be eaten indiscriminately and intake should be restricted
- Sorbets of all kinds are an excellent idea for guilt free desserts. Puree fruits of choice in a blender – oranges, strawberries, blueberries etc., work well and you can even combine more than one different fruits for variation in taste, texture and color. If you can avoid the sugar, do so, or add very little of it of some Splenda to the pureed mixture and freeze.
- If making pies, go easy on the sugar, and have a thin pie crust – most calories in pies are in the crust, fruit fillings are what have all the nutrients. So make it a tart (with no curst covering) and you immediately manage to lower the total number of calories you consume.
Remember, sugar is not such a villain that you eschew it totally.
What is important is that you get your sweet fix from natural sources rather than from refined, processed sugars and other ingredients that lurk in desserts such as high fructose corn syrup etc. Also by reducing the portion size of your dessert you can make a lot of difference.
