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. 

 

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. 

 

Sausage and Bean Pie

A slightly different way of serving the usual breakfast ingredients if you're bored with the same old same old. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

2 cooked Joe's Sausages (I used Olde English)

1 tin baked beans

cooked potatoes, thickly sliced

2 eggs

 

Slice the sausages and place in the bottom of two individual ramekin dishes. I used the slightly larger ones at 10cm diameter, but you can use smaller ones too (although they might get a little full!), and even one large serving dish.

Add the baked beans and top with the sliced potatoes. I used new potatoes, which was probably easier because of the size of them, fitting them into the dish. Spray with Fry Light and bake for 10-15 minutes until everything is heated through.

Top with a poached egg and serve.