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.