Weightwatchers® (Friendly) Carrot Cake Buns

Date: 16/1/13

Background: Being on Weightwatchers® because I want to lose some weight to be healthier and feel more confident, it naturally means that some of my decadently delicious puddingy treats are at least for the time being off the menu. So I thought that, in order to continue enjoying pudding and blogging, I would try and make some weight watchers® friendly cakey treats! So here is my first attempt-with my favourite type of cake!

What: Weightwatchers® (Friendly) Carrot Cake Buns

How Much: Free… Well I had all the ingredients in my Mum’s store cupboard

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Ingredients:

• 250g Self Raising Flour
• 2 whole eggs
• 50g Margarine-melted
• 175mls Skimmed Milk
• 55g Caster Sugar & 55g Soft Dark Brown Sugar
• 225g Carrots-grated
• Zest of an Orange
• 50g Raisins
• 1tsp Cinnamon
• 1tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 tsp Mixed Spice
• 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

To Decorate:

• 10tsp Icing Sugar
• Enough water to make it into a thick runny paste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170C/Gas Mark 4
2. Mix together the “wet ingredients” i.e. melted margarine, milk, vanilla and eggs
3. Stir in the carrot, orange zest and raisins
4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices
5. Milk the sugar into the other “dry ingredients”
6. Pour the “wet ingredients” into the dry ones and mix together until combined (try not to over beat)
7. Pour the mixture into 16 prepared cake cases in their respective tins
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer into the centre of the cake comes out clean
9. Allow to cool then decorate with 1/2tsp-1tsp icing
10. Eat and Enjoy!

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What was Good: It was a really light cake! Subtly spiced and with the added bonus of a little squidgey nugget of fruit as you eat it. It was moist and tasty and tasted very much like a carrot cake you would eat that was not weightwatchers® friendly! One of the best things that I found was that because it was so low in pro-points®, I could eat it without feeling guilty!

What was Bad: My icing went wrong… As you can tell… I only had 10tsp of icing sugar to work with, and I added too much water. But it did not detract from the taste of the cake! I think next time I would add more spices, to add a slightly less subtle flavour to the cake. I would also like to add some chopped walnuts to the mix, however this would up the pro-points® per serving.

Would I make them again?: Yes, give me a nice guilt-less cake anyday!

Strawb-rometer:



Pro-points® per serving:  4



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Grandma’s Fruitcake [HOW TO MAKE]

 

Date: 15/10/12

Background: My Grandma, and consequently my mum also, is my baking teacher and idol. Some of my earliest memories are of stood on a chair in my Grandma’s kitchen making fairy cakes and scones with her. Ever since I have been at university, virtually whenever I came back from Rugby to Birmingham I brought with me a delicious homemade creation from my lovely Grandma. Be it apple pie, coconut cake, chocolate cake, lemon meringue pie or Christmas pudding, regardless or the contents, a cake tin was a welcome addition to our communal kitchen.

After being at home for the weekend prior to coming back to Brumland to start my new job, she had made me a lovely fruitcake, to take to work . A few years ago she had given me the recipe for this cake. And it is one of the easiest cakes to make!

What: Grandma’s All-In-One Stork Fruitcake- Recipe from my Grandma

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Ingredients:

• 4oz Stork margarine
• 4oz caster sugar
• 8oz self raising flour
• 12oz mixed fruit
• 1tsp mixed spice
• 2 eggs
• 1/4pint milk
• 2tbsp walnuts for the top

Method- see how easy it is!

1. Put all ingredients into a bowl
2. Mix ingredients together
3. Pour mixture in a greased and line 2lb loaf tin
4. Place in a preheated oven- Gas Mark 3 (160C)
5. Cook for 1.5-1.75 hours
6. Best eaten after 24hours

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What was Good: Some fruit cakes can be quite dry, but my Grandma’s fruit cake is definitely not that! I love light fruit cake, when I say light I mean, you know when you cut a fruit cake open and the cake itself is light in colour with fruit within it, not dense and sticky like a Christmas cake. The mixed fruit in it was a selection of glace cherries, raisins and sultanas, which helped to keep the cake lovely and moist, and the mixed spice added a lovely autumnal flavour and scent to it as well. It was a fantastic ‘store cupboard’ cake, not just because it can be made with ingredients you can easily find in your store cupboard, but also because despite it now being 4 days after cutting it, it still tastes as fresh as the first day! So I can keep it airtight in the store cupboard for days! Another of my favourite things about this lovely cake are that the walnuts used to top the cake add a delicious flavour, and fab texture when biting into it.

What was Bad: I for one am not going to disrespect my Grandma by saying anything bad about her baking She made it because she loves to cook for people, and I am very grateful!

Waffle-O-Meter: