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Tag: healthy desserts

Perfect Snack for the Royal Wedding: Apricot Banana White Chocolate Scones

apricot-banana-scone

The Royal wedding is tomorrow and a friend suggested I repost this old scone recipe for the occasion. I love eating scones but certainly don’t like all the calories… This is my healthy version. You can slather a huge amount of clotted cream and not feel too guilty. Enjoy these with a cup of English tea and enjoy the wedding. Speaking of the wedding, will you be up early morning or will you dvr it??

When it comes to eating out- one of my all time favorite things to do is- afternoon tea. I love the tradition and of course the food! I love the idea of sitting in a very adult and pleasant place; drinking tea and eating all the finger sandwiches and scones. When we were in London and Scotland, I made sure to go a few times for high tea. I usually get the darjeeling tea; all the sandwiches I can eat and of course – my favorite – currant scones. The subtle flavor is just enough to enjoy them with lots of jam and clotted cream. Oh- how I love the clotted cream- if it wasn’t so bad for me- I would eat it all the time. There is a place in Chester, NJ that serves great afternoon tea- I have not been in a very long time- now that I am writing this piece- I will be going very soon!

Typically scones are made with all purpose flour and lots of butter. The texture is crumbly and a bit dry- perfect combination for jam and cream. I do have a recipe I have been meaning to try for a long time- it is for traditional English scones given by my English Aunt. For whatever reason- I have never made them at home. Recently, I had a friend ask me if I could post a scone recipe on the blog. I remembered the one I have from my Aunt and thought about using the recipe- but I realized it has a lot of butter … and somehow it didn’t appeal to me. I started looking for other recipes but nothing stood out. Then, one day I had an overripe banana and I didn’t want to make my usual banana bread – so I thought- maybe I can bake some scones with it. Bananas are sweet and I wanted to pair a tangy ingredient to make the scones eatable without jam or cream- more like a snack- actually I was trying to save myself the clotted cream calories!- so I came up with dried apricots. I switched the all purpose flour for white whole wheat flour and decided to cut back on the butter a bit- this recipe does not have that much at all. I also decided to add some white chocolate chips- somehow using apricots made me think of white chocolate- they added a nice burst of sweetness to the scones.

Overall the scones were good- moist and not overly sweet- the bananas helped with the soft texture. I think next time I bake them- I might add an egg glaze on top with some extra sugar. They would be a bit more aesthetically pleasing. In terms of taste, they were delicious- Sia loved them and I gave them to my husband for breakfast- which he loved!

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Baked Nectarines with Vanilla Creme Fraiche

Baked Nectarines 1

The nectarine lovefest continues with this delicious dessert. I don’t know how to begin- first of all, it is delicious. Simple, yet it includes layers of amazing flavors.

I started with fresh nectarines, cut in half and ready to be stuffed with a mixture of oats, walnuts and brown sugar. I laced the topping with ground cardamom and cinnamon. To me, the cardamom was the key ingredient. It was simply amazing with the walnuts, oats and the baked nectarines- floral and sweet.

It is a great dessert to make in advance. I popped it in the oven as we sat down to eat dinner. Ten to fifteen minutes later, the nectarines were ready to be taken out.

I served them with some creme fraiche. I love using this French style soured cream instead of ice cream- although ice cream would be amazing as well. I added a bit of vanilla sugar into the cream and added a dollop on top of the baked nectarines. The combination was delicious. The cream cut through the sweetness of topping and the soft fruit. All in all- it was a very successful try. I will be making this with other fruits as well in the future- sky is the limit…
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Apple Orange Duffins

Apple Orange Duffins Here is another version of one of our favorite treats in our house. My daughter can’t get enough of these and asks me to make them all the time. Her favorite are the jelly filled ones but she will eat any kind I make.

For these particular ones, I decided to do a yummy filling in the middle with apples and oranges. It is amazing how well the two flavors complement each other. I zested and juiced a navel orange and used the zest for the actual batter and the juice for the filling. I cut up my favorite apples- pink lady into chunks and added some sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest. I let the mixture sit for a while for the flavors to marinate.

I then made the usual batter and added just a bit of the filling in the middle of each duffin. Of course I coated them with the yummy sugar mixture and they were a hit. My daughter loved them.

Try the apple orange duffins- they are delicious.
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Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate Gelato

Hazelnut Chocolate Gelato This is my version of hazelnut chocolate gelato. It is a bit different than what you find in the stores or the recipes you see on line.  First of all, I used my usual gelato recipe- which is made out of whole milk and corn starch. So, that means no fat from eggs and cream. Secondly, instead of steeping the nuts in the milk and then straining them out, I decided to include them in the mix. Doing that provides a great crunch and texture- although straining the nuts out makes this treat more kid friendly. My daughter liked it but she didn’t care for all the nuts in her mouth. I, on the other hand, thought it was delicious. The hazelnut flavor is richer and more enhanced. Especially once I added some hazelnut liquor- it makes it extra scrumptious.

To make the gelato more interesting, I added grated dark chocolate which changes the color as well as the taste. Milk chocolate can be added as well, but I prefer the dark one- plus it is healthier for you.

Overall it was a great, healthy treat we all enjoyed after a dinner get together. I think I will try another one soon – maybe a ginger gelato- yum!!!
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Coconut Rum Flan

Coconut Rum FlanFlan is my all time favorite dessert. I grew up eating it and love everything about it. My Mom would serve it to us with a drizzle of fresh cream. It was the most glorious dessert ever.

Over the years I have tried making it- but have not been very successful. The flan usually doesn’t invert well and breaks apart. The reason is not enough eggs- I don’t like the custard dessert too rich so I don’t end up adding too many eggs. So my solution is to have my Mom make it for us every time she comes to visit. She doesn’t have a set recipe for me to follow and I have never watched her make it.

Last year I modified a recipe and tried it- no luck- it broke apart. Finally the other day while I was cooking for some friends, I decided to make flan. I was watching food television and saw someone make coconut rum flan. That is all I needed to get inspired. I tweaked the recipe to my taste and came up with this recipe.

I am thrilled with it. The texture is perfect- soft yet firm. It is not too sweet- exactly the way I like it. Everyone enjoyed it a lot. I also like it because I can make it with low fat milk and although it has quite a few eggs- at least the dessert has protein.

For caramel

  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup water

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from the side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber.
Pour into the glass dish and swirl so caramel coats the bottom.

For flan

  • 1 cup 1% milk
  • 1 (14 ounce) low-fat coconut milk
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons dark rum
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
You will need a round 9-inch glass dish and a large roasting pan.

Heat the milk and coconut milk with the sugar until the mixture simmers. Whisk the eggs, add the rum, salt and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Add ½ cup of hot milk mixture to the egg mixture and mix well. Add the tempered egg mixture into the milk mixture mixing well. Strain the entire mixture before pouring it into the glass dish.
Place the glass dish into the roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with hot water- about ½ inch high. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes until just set but still wobbly in center. Refrigerate over night or at least 2-3 hours.
Top with the coconut and serve chilled.