Skinny Cake

I've been struggling with my weight for the last few years, and it seems like the older I get the more weight I seem to gain. I guess its normal but its sooooo aggravating. I've gone back to the only thing that has effectively worked without fail in the past, and thats exercise in combination with counting calories. Yes, I know....seems archaic but it does work! My hairdresser told me the the other day that i've become "more skinnier":D....and only after two weeks or so after starting. You cant imagine how happy it made me.

But anyway, back to the baking and cooking...I always crave sweets after supper or sometimes as an afternoon treat, and most sweets as we all know are loaded with sugar and fat. But I found a recipe thats pretty great for the palate as well as for the hips, its from the british tv show Cook Yourself Thin. It caught my eye right from the beginning because it called for boiling two lemons till soft and then whizzing it up to a pulp... i tried it and was quite surprised at how lovely and lemony it was without being sour or bitter. The recipe calls for using fructose which is fruit sugar and has a lower glycemic index as compared to regular sugar, and although it does call for some flour it makes use mostly of ground almonds (How can you lose...more protein keeps you full for a longer time!)


The result is a delicious dessert which is a little dense, like those european cakes. I actually divided them into little cupcakes, I froze them and just pulled them out as I needed them. Each portion is about 159 calories based on 16 servings. Indulge, and hope you enjoy them as much as i do.




LEMON & ALMOND CAKE

Makes 12-16 slices
Ready in 2 hours

• 2 lemons
• 3 medium eggs
• 200g fructose
• 55g plain flour
• 200g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder

1. Put the lemon in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour
2. Halve the lemon, remove the pips, then purée in a blender, skin and all.
3. Preheat the oven to 170C. Oil a 20cm, round springform cake tin and line with a disc of baking parchment.
4. Beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and thick.
5. Fold in the flour, baking powder, almonds and lemon purée.
6. Pour into the tin and bake for one hour until the top is golden.
7. Do keep an eye on it for the last 15 mins as fructose sugar is slightly more likely to catch. The cake will be fairly dark though.
8. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a rack and cool completely.