Inspired by Bake Off? Whip up some delicious desserts to help you on your weight loss journey with Slimming World…
Baked gooseberry sponge pudding
Serves 4
Ready in 50 minutes
Ingredients
500g gooseberries, topped and tailed
3½ level tbsp sweetener granules
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 large eggs*
½ tsp vanilla extract
75g plain flour
½ level tsp baking powder
½ level tsp cornflour
1 level tsp caster sugar, to dust
Fat-free natural fromage frais or plain quark, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Spread the gooseberries out in a 1.25-litre shallow ovenproof dish. Scatter over 1 level tbsp sweetener, the lemon zest and lemon juice and bake for 15 minutes or until the gooseberries have just collapsed and are tender. Meanwhile, prepare the sponge layer. Put the eggs, remaining sweetener and a pinch of salt in a large bowl (or stand mixer) and whisk with an electric whisk for 15 minutes or until the mixture is thick, tripled in volume and leaves a little trail when drizzled back over the surface. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Sift the flour, baking powder and cornflour over the egg mixture and gently fold in with a large metal spoon. Spoon it all over the gooseberries and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the sponge comes away clean. Dust with the caster sugar and serve hot with the fromage frais or quark.
Baked marmalade rice pudding
Serves 4
Ready in 1 hour 15 minutes, plus standing
Ingredients
2 large oranges
125g dried pudding rice
800ml unsweetened almond milk
3½ level tbsp sweetener granules
100g reduced-sugar marmalade
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Grate the zest from 1 orange. Segment both the oranges, cover and set aside at room temperature. Put the rice, almond milk and sweetener into a non-stick saucepan and bring just to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the rice is just tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the orange zest. Spoon the marmalade over the base of a 1.25-litre ovenproof dish and spoon the rice pudding evenly on top. Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 160°C/fan 140°C/gas 3 and bake for 45 minutes or until the pudding has thickened and the rice is tender. Turn off the oven and leave the pudding to stand in the oven for 15-20 minutes (this will help a tasty crust form on top). Serve with the orange segments.
Banana and passion fruit Pavlova nests
Serves 4
Ready in 1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling
Ingredients
2 large egg whites*
75g caster sugar
2 level tbsp sweetener granules
½ level tsp cornflour
¼ tsp white wine vinegar
150g plain quark
100g fat-free natural Greek yogurt
2 ripe and wrinkly passion fruit
2 small bananas, sliced
Method
Preheat the oven to 120°C/fan 100°C/gas ½. Line a large baking sheet with non-stick baking paper. Using a bowl or cup as a template, mark 4 x 10cm circles on the paper, spaced well apart, then flip over the paper so that the pencil marks are on the underside. Put the egg whites into a large clean bowl and whisk, using an electric hand whisk, until stiff peaks form. Gradually whisk in the sugar and sweetener to form a stiff, glossy meringue. Whisk in the cornflour and vinegar and spoon the mixture into a piping bag (fitted with a star nozzle, if you like). Starting in the centre of each circle on the baking paper, pipe the Pavlova mixture in a spiral to form a flat disc, then pipe 2 lines of meringue around the edge of each disc to form the walls of the nests. Bake for 45 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the nests in the oven for at least 3 hours or overnight to cool and dry out. When you are almost ready to serve, beat the quark and yogurt in a bowl until smooth. Halve the passion fruit and scoop the pulp into a bowl with a teaspoon. Carefully peel the Pavlova nests off the paper, spoon in some of the quark mixture and top with banana slices and passion fruit pulp. Serve straight away before the meringue has a chance to soften.
*Pregnant women, the elderly, babies and toddlers are advised to choose eggs showing the British Lion stamp if eating raw or partially cooked eggs.
Recipes taken from Slimming World’s Sweet Dreams recipe book. To find your nearest Slimming World group visit www.slimmingworld.co.uk or call 0344 897 8000.
Images: Slimming World/Gareth Morgans
©Slimming World 2018 ‘Slimming World’ is a registered trademark of Miles-Bramwell Executive Services, trading as Slimming World.
