Sweets for my sweet (tooth)

I am a sweeet-tooth-aholic and I am also constantly on a diet. It’s the only way to look good in the size 4 outfits that are hanging in my closet. I have some clothes that still have their tags on because they are waiting for me to lose some unwanted bulges. Until I taper off some of my love handles (some of my kind friends call them that, but I would rather be brutally frank with myself and call them fat handles) through serious diet and exercise, I would not dare wear these size 4s, which could go out of fashion if I don’t lose the handles soon! I challenge myself this way. I buy clothes that I can only wear if I keep my tummy in and not breathe the whole night. But rather than die from oxygen deprivation, I prefer to wait and diet till doomsday before wearing these next-to-the-skin dresses.

Summer is high and the heat drives most of us to spend our time at a beach resort or lazing around the pool and indulging in food and bottomless iced tea. This means packing in more weight if one is not careful with high-calorie food and drinks. It’s time for beach aficionados to dig up their swimwear and dare to wear them, cellulite and bulges notwithstanding. I console myself with the thought that nobody is perfect and only the likes of Britney Spears and Naomi Campbell can boast a perfect 10 body – and how many creatures like them exist in this era of junk food and super-sized portions?

A week from now, I will be in a resort and I dream of wearing my new swimsuits and chic beachwear, but I don’t relish the thought of showing my bulges, no matter how minimal they are. I am doing an exercise program for my abs and a low-carb diet but I’m not giving up my desserts. I came across some yummy recipes with low-calorie sugar which I would like to share with those of you who are blessed (or cursed?) with a sweet tooth like me. I have experimented with these recipes and three of them are my favorites as they are tasty and low- caloric and really satisfy my sweet cravings.

Chocolate Mousse Cups

Chilling time: 4 hours; serves 4; calories: 97
4 cups cocoa powder
200 gms. silken tofu, drained
1/2 cup low-calorie sugar like Equal
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. gelatin
1 egg white
10 gms. milk chocolate

Dissolve cocoa powder in 1/4 cup of boiling water. Stir until smooth. Cool. Beat the tofu, cocoa mixture, Equal (or any low-cal sugar) and vanilla with electric beater until smooth. Dissolve the gelatin in 1 tbsp. hot water. Add to the chocolate mixture and stir until well combined. With clean beater, beat egg white till soft peaks form. Fold into the chocolate and then divide between 1/2 cup capacity dishes. Refrigerate for four hours until set. Use the vegetable peeler to cut curls from the milk chocolate to decorate.

Fudgy Choc Square

Chilling time: 2 hours; makes 20 slices; calories 60
100 gms low fat butter
1 cup Equal (or low-cal sugar)
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
125 gms. wheatmeal biscuits, finely crushed
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
2 egg whites

Line a 20x10 cm. pan with foil. Melt the butter. Remove from heat. Add Equal and cocoa. Stir until smooth. Add the biscuits, essence and egg whites and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Press evenly into the tin with the back of a spoon. Refrigerate for two hours until firm then cut into squares. Sprinkle with extra low cal sugar before serving.

Spiced Apple Cake

Cooking time: 20 minutes; calories: 112; makes 16 slices
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 1/2 tsp. each of ground cinnamon and ginger
1 cup Equal or low-cal sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup skim milk
60 gms. reduced-fat butter, melted and cooled
2 green apples, peeled and grated
1/2 cup sultanas
1 red apple halved, cored and thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a 20x30 pan with non-stick baking paper. Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk together the egg, milk and butter and add to the bowl. Mix together gently until just combined, fold in the grated apple and sultanas. Spread into the tin and lay apple slices on top. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Glaze by brushing with some melted apricot spread.

These desserts are not only delicious but healthy. If you notice, they have ingredients like silk tofu, wheatmeal biscuits and apples. Some people think low-cal sugar is unhealthy because it is sweetened with aspartame. But aspartame is made from protein components like those found naturally in everyday foods such as meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables. Besides, if it were that bad, they would have been pulled off the shelves by the US FDA. And you are not consuming it by the gallons anyway. I myself use it on my diet days when every calorie counts. Instead of loading my coffee with 40 calories of brown sugar, using half of an Equal sachet (a full sachet is too sweet for me) or any low-cal sweetener gives me only two calories. Low-cal sugar tablets have fewer calories. Two tablets have one calorie only.

It’s perfect to bring these homemade sweets on your vacation to make sure you don’t gain weight but not feel deprived of your sweets. Bear in mind that when one is weight conscious, one must avoid all the fattening stuff that piles on the weight. Sugar is the No. 1 nemesis of a person trying to shed pounds. Most beverages are fattening because they are laden with sugar. Bottomless iced teas, fruit juices and sodas are killers because they are loaded with sugar. When one is on a diet, every calorie counts. The fewer calories, the easier to lose those unwanted, dreadful pounds. So get on the bandwagon with me and join me in counting our calories during diet days. This is one more time when less is more!