Carrot and Ginger Cupcakes

Another variation on my favourite – and immensely popular – butternut squash muffins. These are dangerously moreish, but at just half a syn (less in fact) each, you can really enjoy a couple without feeling guilty. They don't last very well in the fridge or a cake tin; but they freeze well – I have placed mine in containers with six cakes (without the icing) to take out for as and when we want a little treat, without going overboard.

Makes 36

½ syn each*

* providing you use the oats as your Healthy Extra b and cheese as your Healthy Extra A. Nine cakes constitutes one HexB and HexA.

140g porridge oats

2 tubs fat free thick plain Greek yogurt

100g sultanas

2 tsp baking powder

8 eggs, separated

2-3 tbsps mixed spice

½ – 1 cup of sweetener to taste

1 can sugar free ginger beer

3-4 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

a knob of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

300g cream cheese

sweetener to taste

a few drops of rum essence

First of all, in a small bow, place the sultanas and pour over enough ginger beer to cover. Leave to infuse and swell. Next put the oats in a large bowl and mix in the yogurt and the rest of the ginger beer. If you are using a thinner, runnier yogurt, cut down on the amount of liquid you use.

Leave these mixtures to soak for at least a couple of hours, ideally overnight. Boil the carrots with the ginger and leave to cool. Whizz in a food processor until smooth.

In a large bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Whisk the egg yolks and add the sweetener, mixed spice and baking powder. (Don't do as I did – thinking that I might forget to add the baking powder – I wasn't following a recipe, I was making it up as I went along – I measured it out when I thought of it earlier and just put it on top of the oat mixture for stirring in later. Wrong! By the time I came to stir it in, the baking powder had drawn the moisture from the oat mix and was one hard, white cake. Oops. I managed to break it up by whisking it in with the egg whites, but it was certainly a learning point!)

Stir the egg yolks and carrot mix into the oat mixture, add the sultanas and gently fold in the egg whites, making sure everything is mixed in well. Spoon into well greased muffin cases. I find I like to keep stirring the mixture while I am putting it into the little muffin cases, as the sultanas tend to sink to the bottom fairly quickly.

Bake in the oven at 180°C for 20-30 minutes, until they are cooked through. They should be springy, not fluffy when you touch them gently with your finger, and a skewer inserted should come out clean.

For the icing, mix together the cream cheese, sweetener and rum essence and spread on top of the cakes.

Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

These work out at under than half a syn per cupcake providing you use the oats as your Healthy Extra B and the cream cheese as your Healthy Extra A

Makes 12 little cakes

70g rolled oats

1 tub Müllerlight toffee yogurt

1-2 tbsp water

4 tbsp cocoa powder

sweetener to taste

3-4 beetroots, depending on size

1 tbsp baking powder

4 eggs, separated

150g reduced fat cream cheese

200g fat free fromage frais

sweetener

a few drops of red food colouring

Soak the oats in the yogurt for at least two hours, ideally overnight. Add the cocoa powder and sweetener to taste. Add some water if necessary to make a soft consistency.

Peel and cook the beetroot until soft and mash using a potato masher or a fork. Be careful at this stage as it can be quite a slippery customer and bits have a habit of flying out of the bowl and staining whatever they land on.

Mix the beetroot in with the oats and add the baking powder.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks. Mix the yolks with the oats and beetroot and carefully fold in the whites. 

 

Spoon in to 12 greased muffin cases and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180°C until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool.

For the icing, mix together the cream cheese, fromage frais, sweetener to taste and a few drops of red food colouring. When the cakes are cool, pipe the icing on top. 

 

Nina and Olav's Gingerbread House

This is anything BUT slimming, but still worth including for this time of year. 

Once made, the dough can be baked straight away, or kept for a few days in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge. It is best to make the house over two days: the first day you bake and decorate the pieces, the second day assemble them. If you try and decorate them after the house has been assembled, the icing runs – great for icicles, not so good for patterns.

According to the recipe, you can use brown or white sugar – I used unrefined caster sugar. I also found that I needed almost three times as much icing as they suggested. The dough makes more than enough for the house and the base, with plenty extra for trees, men, stars and other biscuits to nibble on while you wait for Demolition Day!

For the dough:

225g sugar

375g syrup

1½ tsp ground ginger

4½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cardamom

225g butter

2 eggs

3 tsp bicarbonate of soda

750-850g plain white flour

For the icing:

400ml icing sugar

1 egg white

a few drops lemon juice

For the 'glue':

250ml sugar

Place sugar, syrup and spices in a saucepan and bring to the boil (It is best to use a large saucepan for this, as the mixture starts to foam and expand as soon as you add the bicarbonate of soda. ). Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir until it is becomes frothy. Place the butter in a bowl and add the hot sugar mixture, stirring until the butter has melted. Add the eggs and leave to cool. When the mixture has cooled, gradually add the flour, stirring well between each time (I used a food mixer for this).

I found the dough was easier to use after 10-15 minutes, rather than immediately after it was made.

Roll out the dough directly on the baking plate (I used greaseproof paper on top of the tray) to a thickness of around 3mm, and cut out the pieces using the templates (including the holes for the window and doors – the door gets bakes separately). Make two of each piece, plus a base large enough to take the finished house. 

Bake the pieces, leaving enough space between each piece for them to expand slightly, at 180°C for ten minutes. Leave to cool before decorating.

 

When the biscuits have cooled completely, decorate with the icing. Mix together all the ingredients and stir well, then pipe out the pattern – the only limitation here is your imagination! Add Smarties or any other colourful candy while the icing is still soft, pressing them firmly into the icing. Leave the icing overnight to set completely. 

 

The following day, melt the sugar on a wide pan and dip the pieces in the sugar on the edges they will be joined with another piece. It is best to have two people do this – one to dip and the other person to hold the pieces in place as you join them. Just be very careful you drip hot sugar on your assistant – as it WILL burn and blister the skin (as my husband found out)!

Once the house is all assembled you can touch up with any icing to create snow, icicles and cover up any cracks etc. 

 The house is assembled, but I think it needs a little snow on the ground.

The house will keep well for at least a couple of weeks and still be OK to eat.

Enjoy!

Apple and Cinnamon Tart

Husband loves anything with cooked apple (I prefer the apples raw, and end up eating all the skin as I peel them for his dishes), so I am constantly trying to work out low syn recipes containing apple. 

 

Serves 6-8

½ syn for the whole cake on Extra Easy*

*Providing you use the cooked apples as your Healthy Extra B

½ cup buckwheat

2-3 tbsp sweetener

1 tsp cinnamon powder

2 tbsp quark

½ tsp baking powder

2 eggs, separated

vanilla essence

2 tbsp sweetener

2 tsp cinnamon powder

7 apples

sweetener to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a spring form cake tin by spraying it with Fry Light. Heat a frying pan to medium-high heat and dry toast the buckwheat until they start to brown, 3-5 minutes. Switch off the pan, add 2 tbsp sweetener, 1 tsp cinnamon and ca 1 tbsp water to mix it all in. Stir until all the water has evaporated. Quickly line the bottom of the cake tin with the buckwheat and leave to cool.

Mix together the egg yolks, baking powder, 1-2 tsp vanilla essence, 2 tbsp sweetener, cinnamon and the quark, using an electric whisk. In a separate clean bowl, using a clean whisk, whip the egg whites until firm. Carefully fold the yokes into the whites. Pour the mixture on top of the buckwheat and bake for 10-15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool.

Peel and core 5 of the apples and cut into small chunks. Place in a saucepan with the sweetener and 2 tsp cinnamon and enough water to only just cover the apples. Simmer until the apples are very soft and mash up with a potato masher. Pour the apple sauce over the cake in the tin.

Peel and core the rest of the apples and slice very thinly. Arrange in a pattern on top of the sauce and bake at 200°C for 25-35 minutes until the apples are cooked through. 

 

Lemon Tart

The last 'international' dish this week comes from France. I have just amended it somewhat for the Slimming World plan, but even without the cream and pastry, it was very rich and creamy, with a refreshing tangy flavour. 

 

Serves 8

Syn Free on Extra Easy*

* ¼ syn for the whole cake

½ cup buckwheat

6 eggs, plus 3 egg yolks

2 tbsp sweetener

½ tsp baking powder

1 tub quark

juice and zest of 3 lemons

¼ cup sweetener, or to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm spring form cake tin by spraying it with Fry Light. Heat a frying pan to medium-high heat and dry toast the buckwheat until they start to brown, 3-5 minutes. Switch off the pan, add 2 tbsp sweetener and ca 1 tbsp water to mix it all in. Stir until all the water has evaporated. Quickly line the bottom of the cake tin with the buckwheat and leave to cool.

Separate 2 of the eggs. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. In another bowl whisk the egg yolks with a quarter of the quark, the baking powder and 2 tbsp sweetener. Carefully fold in to the egg whites. Pour mixture on top of the buckwheat in the tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin. Don't worry if the cake looks very high at this stage, it will settle down when it has cooled.

Mix the lemon juice and zest with the ¼ cup sweetener and the rest of the quark. Beat well. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the egg yolks. Taste and add more sweetener if the mixture is too tart for your liking, Pour on top of the cake base, and bake in the oven at 190°C for 20-25 minutes until the filling is set. Leave to cool before serving. 

 

Zucchini Muffins

There's been a lot of talk on Facebook amongst my American friends recently about the virtues of Zucchini Muffins (courgettes to those of us in England), so I thought I'd try a little experiment, by combining the ever-so-succesful oat pancake recipe, the half-syn roulade recipe and a traditional carrot cake recipe, but substituting courgettes for the carrots and baking it in muffin cases rather than cake tins. I peeled the courgette because the skin was a little blemished, but this should not be necessary. Of course, you may want to peel it to avoid having green bits in your muffins.

The result was way better than I had hoped for. The cake was light, moist and tasty, with the consistency of a bread pudding, and the taste was very spicy and fruity. 

 

Serves 4*

1 Syn on Extra Easy**
** Providing you use the oats as your Healthy Extra B

You could, of course, omit the sultanas and make the cake almost syn free, as there is only ½ syn in the baking powder. I thought the sultanas were worth the syns though.

70g porridge oats

1 tub Müllerlight toffee yogurt

2-3 tbsp sugar free appleade

1 large courgette, grated

½ cup sweetener or to taste

2 tsp mixed spice

20g sultanas (total 3 syns)

2 eggs, separated

1 tsp baking powder (total ½ syns)

Start the day before you want to eat the cakes. Soak the oats in the yogurt with 1 tbsp appleade, the spices and sweetener overnight. In a separate small bowl, soak the sultanas in just enough appleade to cover them.

The next day, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the baking powder. I find it is best at this stage to taste the oat mixture and adjust the spices or sweetener if necessary. Mix together the oats, grated courgettes and sultanas with the egg yolks and stir thoroughly. Carefully fold in the egg whites and pour into 12 muffin cases. Bake at 200°C for 10-15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the top feels spongy. Mine took a bout 18 minutes in total. 

 

Cinnamon Rock Cakes

This is NOT a Slimming World recipe and I don't even want to know how many syns are in each one. They are too nice to not include on this site tough, and Husband loves me to make them from time to time. As I do of course, the dutiful wife that I am. *cough*

Makes about 8 cakes.

225g self raising flour

113g demerera sugar

113g margarine

113g sultanas

1 egg

plash of milk

2 tsp ground mixed spice

1 tsp cinnamon

Sift the flour into a large bowl, add cinnamon and mixed spice and mix thoroughly. Add margarine and mix to resemble fine breadcrumbs – easiest done by pulsing the mixture in a food processor. Add the sugar and sultanas and mix well. Pour a beaten egg into the mixture until it comes together to a sticky dough ball. Add a small splash of milk if necessary. Place the mixture in generous lumps (no need to form properly, they are best left lumpy). Bake for 10-20 minutes at 175°C until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

 

Black Forest Roulade

I decided to have a go at making the half syn roulade with some cocoa powder (which means it is no longer half a syn of course), but I can't say it was all that successful. The taste was good, but it was dry and too dense. Back to the drawing board – watch this space.....

Banoffee Pie

I love it when I discover ways of making my favourite desserts syn free. This recipe is adapted from the Slimming World Love Desserts book, from 6 syns per serving to a quarter of a syn for the whole pie. 

 

Serves 8-10

¼ syn for the whole cake on Extra Easy

generous ½ cup buckwheat

1 tbsp sweetener

2 eggs

2 tbsp sweetener

½ tsp ground ginger

1 tub quark

½ tsp baking powder

3 tubs Müllerlight Smooth Toffee Yogurt

sweetener to taste

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 egg whites

2 sachets gelatine crystals

3 bananas, thinly sliced

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm spring form cake tin by spraying it with Fry Light. Heat a frying pan to medium-high heat and dry toast the buckwheat until they start to brown, 3-5 minutes. Switch off the pan, add one tablespoon sweetener and around two tablespoons water to mix it all in. Stir until all the water has evaporated. Quickly line the bottom of the cake tin with the buckwheat and leave to cool.

Separate the eggs. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. In another bowl whisk the egg yolks with a quarter of the tub of quark, the baking powder and 2 tbsp sweetener. Carefully fold in to the egg whites. Pour mixture on top of the buckwheat in the tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin. Don't worry if the cake looks very high at this stage, it will settle down when it has cooled.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff. In a separate bowl, mix together the toffee yogurts, sweetener if using and the rest of the quark. Dissolve the gelatine crystals in 100ml boiling water and leave to cool slightly. Gradually stir in the yogurt mix, and then gently fold into the egg whites. Pour over the cake base and leave in the fridge to set for at least two hours.

Take the pie out of the fridge at least half an hour before serving to let it reach room temperature – unless of course you really like your food ice cold. I find that the flavour of food improves as the chill comes off it. Just as you are serving, slice the bananas and place on top of the pie. Squeeze over some toffee sauce if you like, at 2.5 syns per tablespoon, and/or grated chocolate at 1.5 syns per tablespoon. 

 

Thunder Muffins

This is inspired by my sister-in-law, who used to make Thunder Cakes from All-Bran. I have gone one step further by adding to prunes to it too, to help with ..... erm .... digestion. No points for guessing how this dish got its name.

You may not want to add any sweetener as the prunes are quite sweet in themselves. The muffins are not completely syn free, but at only quarter of a syn for the 12 of them, it is hardly worth mentioning.

The muffins come out really quite moist and gooey, especially if eaten while still warm. I am sure you do not want to be kept informed if they have the desired effect.

Makes 12 muffins

Six of the Cakes are Syn Free on Original Days*

*Providing you use the cooked prunes AND the All-Bran as your two Healthy Extra Bs

70g All Bran

1 tub fat free natural plain yogurt

sweetener to taste

2 tsp cinnamon

250g ready to eat pitted prunes, chopped

2 eggs, separated

½ tsp baking powder

Soak the All-Bran with the yogurt, around half a cup of water and the cinnamon and sweetener if using, for a couple of hours or more. Stir well – the mixture should be mushy.

Whip the egg whites until stiff. Whisk the yolks with the baking powder, then stir in the All-Bran mix and chopped prunes. Gently fold into the egg whites, and spoon into 12 greased muffin cases. Bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. 

 

Key Lime Pie – Version Two

This time I decided to just use fresh limes rather than the jelly crystals, and it was a much better end product. It went down very well at our Slimming World party this morning. 

 

Serves 8-10

½ syn for the whole cake

generous ½ cup buckwheat

2 tbsp sweetener

¼ tub quark

2 eggs

½ tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sweetener

2 x 500g tub fat free fromage frais

¾ tubs quark

1 cup sweetener (to taste)

1 tsp vanilla essence

zest and juice of 3-4 limes

2 sachets gelatine crystals

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 23cm spring form cake tin by spraying it with Fry Light. Heat a frying pan to medium-high heat and dry toast the buckwheat until they start to brown, 3-5 minutes. Switch off the pan, add 2 tbsp sweetener and ca 1 tbsp water to mix it all in. Stir until all the water has evaporated. Quickly line the bottom of the cake tin with the buckwheat and leave to cool.

Separate the eggs. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. In another bowl whisk the egg yolks with a quarter of one of the tubs of quark, the baking powder and 2 tbsp sweetener. Carefully fold in to the egg whites. Pour mixture on top of the buckwheat in the tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin. Don't worry if the cake looks very high at this stage, it will settle down when it has cooled.

Using an electric whisk, beat together the fromage frais, the rest of the quark, 1 cup of sweetener and the lime zest. Place the lime juice in a non- metallic container and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Dissolve the contents of the packets of jelly powder in the lime juice and beat well to ensure it is properly mixed. Allow to cool a little before gently mixing in to the fromage frais mixture. Keep tasting the mixture and adjust the sweetener/lime until the combination is just right. Spread the mixture over the cake and leave for at least two hours to set.

I like to take the pie out of the fridge for a couple of hours before eating, as it makes the topping nice and creamy and a softer consistency. 

 

Raspberry Gateau

This recipe is based on the Half Syn Roulade, and although the cake part is quite thin, it is absolutely delicious with the filling. I used frozen raspberries inside the gateau and fresh on top, but you can use either. It would work equally well with strawberries, blueberries or cherries, I'm sure. I mixed the fromage frais with yogurt and quark, mainly because of the consistency, as fromage frais on its own can be quite runny, but you can mix and match as you like. 

 

Serves 6-8

½ syn for the whole cake

1 tub quark

½ tsp baking powder

4 eggs, separated

4 tbsp sweetener

400-500g raspberries

250-300g fat free fromage frais

1 tub fat free plain yogurt

sweetener to taste

Mix together the egg yolks, baking powder, sweetener and half the tub of quark, using an electric whisk. In a separate clean bowl, using a clean whisk, whip the egg whites until firm. Gently fold the yolks into the whites and mix well. Pour into two greased 20cm springform cake tins and bake in the oven at 180°C for 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on it to ensure it doesn't burn. Remove from oven and leave to cool.

Mix the other half of the quark with the yogurt and fromage frais and sweetener to taste. Spread half over one of the cakes and place half the raspberries on top (this is where I use the frozen ones, mainly because they are almost mushy when they defrost) . Place the other cake on top and spread the rest of the fromage frais mix over. Top with the fresh raspberries and serve. 

 

Apple Cake with Summer Fruits

This was a complete experiment as I had a whole bag of apples from a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Husband loves apple cakes and puddings, so I had to think of something to do with the apples that was also portable for our picnic. It makes a very moist cake, and because of the relatively short baking time, the apples retain a nice crunch. 

It is no doubt best the day it is made, as the juice from the berries stained everything blue the next day. It comes out a little messy on the plate (the slices don't retain their shape very well), but tastes absolutely yummy.

 

Serves 6-8

½ syn for the whole cake on Extra Easy*

*Providing you use the cooked apples and cream cheese as your Healthy Extras

1 tub quark

½ tsp baking powder

4 eggs, separated

vanilla essence

6 tbsp sweetener, or to taste

1 tsp cinnamon

4 apples

200g frozen mixed summer fruits, thawed

125g blackcurrants to decorate

150g reduced fat cream cheese

Peel and finely chop the apples. Mix together the egg yolks, baking powder, 1-2 tsp vanilla essence, 2 tbsp sweetener, cinnamon and half the tub of quark, using an electric whisk. In a separate clean bowl, using a clean whisk, whip the egg whites until firm. Carefully fold the yokes into the whites.

Grease two 20cm springform cake times and divide the mixture between the two. Place the apples into the cake mix in the tins. Bake at 180°C for 10-15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool.

Remove the cakes from the tins. Spread one of the cakes with the rest of the quark mixed with 2 tbsp sweetener. Top with the mixed berries and carefully place the other cake on top. Mix together the cream cheese and 2 tbsp sweetener and spread on the top of the cake. Top with the blackcurrants. 

 

Apple and Sultana Couscous Cakes

Putting my thinking cap on for cakes that don't contain flour, I remembered a couscous cake we had in a private home in Cape Verde a few years ago. My friend Google came to the rescue again, and I found a nice little recipe which I adapted heavily to fit in with the Slimming World plan.

The cakes are very tasty, and extremely moreish albeit a little crumbly. The recipe filled 12 muffin cases with a little to spare – if you didn't put as much in each case it would probably make 15-18 little cakes.

I added sultanas to mine – although you can reduce the syn value to almost nothing if you leave them out (and use the apple as HEXB).

Syn values for the whole mix:

70g sultanas = 7 syns

2 tsp baking powder = 1 syn

3 apples cooked = 12 syns*

*If you don't use the cooked apple as your Healthy Extra B

1 cup couscous

1 cup diet appleade

70g sultanas (optional)

1 tub fat free vanilla yogurt

½ tub fat free natural yogurt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

½ cup sweetener

3 eating apples

2 eggs

Place the couscous and appleade in a saucepan and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, switch the heat off and put a lid on the pan. Leave for at least ten minutes for the couscous to cook and absorb the liquid. Place in a large bowl and fluff up with a fork.

Whip the eggs until frothy. Mix with the yogurts, sultanas (if using) , cinnamon, baking powder and sweetener.

Grate 2 of the apples and finely chop the third. Mix with the other ingredients and stir well. Place in individual muffin cakes and bake at 170°C for 15-20 minutes until cooked through and slightly browned on top. 

 

Blueberry and Ricotta Muffins

These have the taste of muffins, but the texture is much lighter and a bit more spongy. They are sugar free, fat free, gluten free and certainly guilt free. Enjoy!

Makes ca 12 muffins

3 syn on Extra Easy for the whole recipe*

* Providing you use the ricotta as your Healthy Extra A, and oats as Healthy Extra B

35g rolled oats

85g fat free natural yogurt

1 tbsp sweetener

2 eggs

85g ricotta

½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

100g blueberries

Start the day before you want to eat the muffins. Soak the oats in the yogurt, sweetener and ca 2 tbsp water (depending on the consistency of the yogurt) overnight.

Separate the eggs and whisk the whites until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, mix together the yolks, ricotta, baking powder, oats and cinnamon. Adjust seasoning and if necessary add more sweetener. Stir in the blueberries. Carefully fold in the egg whites, one third at a time.

Place spoonfuls of the mixture in muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes at 190°C, until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the muffins, and the top is nicely brown.