Sally Bee - Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

200g (7oz) low-fat, cream cheese

juice of ½ lemon

275g (10oz) lemon curd

6 fresh lemon-mint or mint leaves

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.

2 Line a 27 x 40cm (11¼ x 16in) Swiss roll tin with non-stick baking parchment.

3 Using a free-standing electric mixer, whisk the eggs and caster sugar together until the mixture is very light and fluffy and almost doubled in volume. This will take about 5 minutes, so be patient with it!

4 Now, using either a spatula or a large metal spoon, fold in the flour, grated lemon zest, crushed caraway seeds, and melted low-fat spread. Do not overmix.

5 Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake, checking it after 12 minutes. You don’t want too much colour on the sponge, so keep a close eye on it for a maximum of 16 minutes until it is light and springy to the touch. As soon as you can see that the sponge is cooked in the middle but not browning around the edges, remove from the oven and turn the sponge out onto a sheet of non-stick greaseproof paper sprinkled with a little icing sugar.

6 Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a sheet of non-stick baking parchment sprinkled with some icing sugar, and using the baking parchment, carefully roll up into a Swiss roll. Allow to cool.

7 To make the filling, mix the cheese, lemon juice and lemon curd together in a bowl.

8 Now, very finely slice the lemon-mint or mint leaves and mix these into the lemon curd mixture.

9 Only when the sponge has completely cooled, carefully unroll and spread the inside of the sponge with the lemon and mint cream. Now, re-roll the cake using the baking parchment to help keep it all together. Place on a serving dish, dust with a little icing sugar and top with the mint sprig.

TIP

Use a pestle and mortar to crush the caraway seeds.

Courgette Loaf

These sweet loaves make a perfect mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. The bulk of the courgettes keep the calories lower, and with no butter added, a modest slice of this is a lovely healthy treat.

MAKES 2 LOAVES

EACH SERVING 10

low-fat spread, for greasing

3 medium eggs

240ml (8½fl oz) light olive oil

480g (17oz) caster sugar

720g (1lb 9oz) plain flour, sifted

2 tsp baking powder, sifted

1 tsp ground cinnamon

480g (17oz) courgettes, coarsely grated

2 tsp vanilla extract

50g (1¾ oz) chopped walnuts

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

2 Grease 2 x 900g (2lb) loaf tins with low-fat spread and line the bases with baking parchment.

3 Using a hand whisk, mix the eggs and olive oil together in a large bowl.

4 Next, add the caster sugar and whisk for a further 3 minutes.

5 Now, fold in the sifted flour, baking powder and cinnamon with a large metal spoon, then add the grated courgettes, vanilla extract and chopped walnuts and mix well.

6 Pour the cake mixture evenly between the prepared loaf tins and bake for 1 hour or until risen and golden. Serve warm or cold with a lovely cup of tea!

Butter-free Fudge Cake

In this recipe I have used homemade apple sauce instead of butter, making it a half-fat version compared to a usual fudge cake. This cake is lovely served just as it is, but if you want to cover the top with a chocolate frosting, take a look at the frosting recipes.

SERVES 9

light cooking spray, for coating

85g (3oz) wholemeal plain flour

25g (1oz) oatbran

30g (1oz) cocoa powder

100g (3½oz) dark brown sugar

100g (3½oz) caster sugar

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

175g (6oz) homemade apple sauce

3 tbsp vegetable oil or light olive oil

2 tbsp strong black coffee

1 egg white, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas mark 3.

2 Spray a 20cm (8in) square cake tin with light cooking spray and line the base with non-stick baking parchment.

3 Place the flour, oatbran, cocoa, both sugars and the bicarbonate of soda in a medium-sized bowl and stir to mix well.

4 Now, combine the apple sauce, oil, coffee, beaten egg white and vanilla extract and stir to mix. Add the apple sauce mixture to the flour mixture and combine well.

5 Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about 25 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched and a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

TIP

This cake is delicious served with a squirt of Raspberry Coulis.

Almond & Hazelnut Gateau

I love making this nutty, butter-free gateau. It’s incredibly light and works fabulously with a thick layer of fat-free frosting on top. Hazelnuts and almonds are a great source of vitamin E, dietary fibre, heart-healthy B vitamins and ‘good fats’, and the eggs add the protein. This cake is best eaten on the day it is made.

SERVES 8

(LARGER SLICES ALLOWED, AS IS THIS IS A LOVELY LOW-FAT CAKE)

light cooking spray, for coating

4 medium eggs

100g (3½oz) caster sugar

5½ tbsp plain flour

50g (1¾oz) ground almonds

50g (1¾oz) ground hazelnuts

50g (1¾oz) flaked almonds

To decorate

frostingof your choice

raspberries

plain dark chocolate scrapings

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

2 Spray two 20cm (8in) sandwich tins with light cooking spray to make the cake easy to turn out.

3 Using a free-standing electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar together until the mixture is pale, fluffy and doubled in volume. Be patient, as this will take about 5 minutes.

4 Now, sift in the flour from a good height. Add the ground almonds and hazelnuts and fold in with a large, clean metal spoon using as few strokes as possible.

5 Tip the mixture gently into the prepared tins and sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

6 Bake for 12 minutes until well risen and springy to the touch. Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

7 Cover one cake with delicious low-fat frosting and maybe some raspberries. Place the second cake on top. Decorate with more low-fat frosting, raspberries and dark chocolate scrapings.

Chocolate Cake with Spicy Pears

This butter- and flour-free cake has a lovely light texture and great flavour. Make sure you use best quality plain dark chocolate, as this will contain less fat and sugar and gives a better flavour. Cook the pears a day ahead and chill in the refrigerator overnight. The cake is best eaten on the day it is baked.

SERVES 4

For the cake

low-fat spread, for greasing

110g (4oz) caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp for dusting

1 tbsp plain flour, for dusting

110g (4oz) bitter dark chocolate, chopped

4 eggs, separated

70g (2½oz) cornflour

icing sugar, sifted, for dusting

low-fat crème fraîche, to serve

For the spicy pears

85g (3oz) caster sugar

2 tbsp clear, runny honey

4 cloves

10 black peppercorns

1 cinnamon stick

1 x 2.5cm (1in) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

thinly pared zest of 1 orange

290 ml (10fl oz) Muscat wine

juice of ½ lemon

4 firm, ripe pears

8 cloves

1 Start by making the pears. Put 150ml (5fl oz) water, the sugar and honey into a large heavy saucepan and mix together over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved completely. Bring to the boil, then add the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, ginger and orange zest and cook for 10 minutes, uncovered, or until slightly thickened and syrupy.

2 Allow the syrup to cool slightly, then mix in the wine and lemon juice.

3 Peel the pears, leaving the stems intact and stud each pear with 2 cloves. Immediately submerge the pears into the syrup to prevent discolouring. Bring slowly to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the pears to cool completely in the syrup. Refrigerate overnight.