There's always room for cake...

I've developed a sweet tooth as I've got older. Long gone are the times where I would always decline a pudding in favour of a plate of cheese and biscuits. That's not to say I've fallen out of love with cheese, far from it, but I am now much more likely to choose a rich and sickly dessert over a cheeseboard, and grab a slice of cake with my cup of tea over a digestive biscuit.

So, after a very indulgent December, and the current Covid-19 lockdown which frequently sees me scouring the kitchen for treats just to relieve the boredom, the side-effects of my snacking are making themselves known through an increasing waistline and ever tighter fitting jeans!

Cue, the healthy sweet treat! According to one of my 'healthy' cookbooks, you can make a healthier bakewell tart (one of my all time favorite cakes) which is so good you can't tell it apart from the real deal. Challenge accepted!

Having sourced the few ingredients required during my weekly online shop, last Saturday afternoon I hit the kitchen to put the ambitious claims to the test. A relatively simple and easy to follow recipe, with the only slight catch that I was unable to find the low fat jam required, so had to resort to normal jam. I have decided that, as the quantity of jam used was so small, this is only a very minor glitch and surely would have limited impact on the number of calories per tart!

After only about 10 minutes of preparation time, the ingredients were spooned into the muffin tray and popped into the oven. A lovely baking smell emanated from the kitchen and, as per the baking instructions in the book, 25 minutes later, they were ready. Perhaps my oven was too hot, perhaps my muffin tray was too shallow, perhaps my full fat jam was too fatty... whatever the cause, the healthier bakewell tarts were over-baked and instead of a lovely golden colour like the picture in the book, they had taken on a rather dark sheen, tinged with black edges.

The good news is they are still edible, they even have a decent flavour (if you can ignore the burnt bits). I will try and make them again, giving them a little less baking time. But, for now, I conclude that my scepticism over 'healthier' cakes is valid, and if you want cake, just go for it, the full sugar version (in moderation of course!)

Here's the receipe I used, should you want to give it a try. It makes 10 tarts and each tart is approx. 70kcals.

Ingredients

low-calorie cooking spray

2 low-calorie tortilla wraps

25g self-raising flour

25g reduced fat spread

1 large egg

2 tbsp granulated sweetner

1 tsp almond extract

2 tbsp reduced-sugar raspberry jam

5g flaked almonds

Method

Preheat oven to 190c

Spray muffin tin with low-calorie cooking spray

Cut 5 rounds from each wrap using 7cm pastry cutter

Place rounds in muffin tin and bake for 8 minutes

Combine flour, spread, egg, sweetener and almond extract in bowl

Remove muffin tin from over and spread jam into base of each case

Spoon batter into cases, ensuring jam is covered

Sprinkle flaked almonds on top and bake for 25 mins (make sure you keep an eye on them so they don't burn like mine!)

Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool

Good luck and enjoy!