Ingredients:

• Sugar- 1/2 cup
• Low fat cream cheese or cottage cheese- softened, 8 oz
• Eggs- 8
• Non-fat or low fat sweetened condensed milk- 1 can (14 oz)
• Non- fat or low fat milk powder- 1 can (12 oz)
• Vanilla extract- 2 tsp
• Water- 2 tablespoons

Procedure:

• First, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
• In a large bowl, beat the cream or cottage cheese until it is soft. Now, beat the eggs into the cheese, one at a time, and beat the mixture thoroughly. Now add the condensed milk, milk powder, and vanilla and beat. Now keep aside the mixture while you make the caramel.
• For the caramel, put the sugar and water in a pan and heat over a medium flame. Swirl the pan but do not stir the mixture. Do this about 7- 8 minutes until the mixture is a golden- brown color. Your caramel is ready. Put this immediately into a 9-inch cake pan.
• Now carefully add the beaten cheese mixture into the cake pan, over the hot caramel. You will hear some cracking because of the different temperatures of the two mixtures, but that is fine.
• For baking, place this cake pan into a larger pan. Pour hot water in-between the two pans (into the larger pan) until it is about an inch high. Bake the mixture in the oven until it is golden, which should take about an hour. The center will still be shaky. To check if the flan is done, pierce a knitting needle or a knife into the center and take out. It should come out clean.
• For cooling, remove the flan from the oven and let it cool down to room temperature, and then refrigerate it overnight. Keep the cake pan covered while in the refrigerator.
• For serving, run the edges of the pan with a knife to separate the flan from the pan. Cover the top of the flan with a plate and then invert the pan upside down to remove the flan into the plate. The caramel topping should be perfectly set.

The key to making healthy desserts, similar to making healthy food, is to cut out the calories. To cut out the calories, there are two possible things that you can do- reduce the fats, and/ or reduce the sugar content. Let us understand these alternatives one by one.

How to reduce fat content- The major sources of fat in desserts comes from dairy products- milk, butter, cream, cream cheese, etc. Here are simple ways to reduce the fats without affecting the taste too much.

• to low fat milk. It has one-thirds the amount of fat than full cream milk. There is no noticeable difference in taste.
• Instead of butter, use margarine. To further cut out the fat, use low fat margarine. Margarine is also healthier than butter as it contains fats that are good for the body.
• Use canola oil in making cakes, muffins, cookies, etc.
• Replace cream cheese with low fat cottage cheese or ricotta. This will also make your dessert lighter because cream cheese is very heavy.
• Use low fat ice cream wherever you need to use ice cream, like in fruit salads. Another great tip is to use buttermilk in as many recipes as you can. It is very low in fat content and tastes great. For instance, you can use it in shakes and smoothies instead of milk.

How to cut down sugar- It is not as easy to reduce the sugar content as it is to reduce fats. Nonetheless, you can do a few things. In place of sugar, use artificial sweetners like Aspartame. You will have to use to much lesser amounts since they are very sweet. Use natural sweetners like honey and maple syrup wherever you can. They are good alternatives to sugar in recipes where you need only a little amount of sugar.

Aside from all this, it is also very helpful that you eat in a controlled fashion. The rule of reducing portions of your meals applies here too. Eat only reasonable amounts to succeed in weight loss. After all, there is no point in cutting out the calories from the dessert and then gorging on excessive amounts. Keep these healthy dessert ideas in mind when you make your favorite dessert the next time.

Tea Latte Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Spice tea bags – 6 packets – to flavor the cheesecake.
Egg – 1
Sugar – half a cup
Water – half a cup
Fat free cream cheese – softened – 2 8 oz container
Cracker Pie Crust – 9-10 inch

Directions:

Take half cup of boiling water and while it is boiling put the six tea bags into the water and boil it for sometime, say a minute or two. Then let it steep for around 5 minutes. Take a large bowl and add the concentrate of spice tea into it. Add the cream cheese and sugar to it. Use an electric mixer or a hand blender to beat the mix. Then add the egg and blend the mixture again until it becomes smooth and soft. The final mix is now ready for baking. Pour the mix into a crust and at around 360 degrees, bake the mixture. Let it bake for 40-50 minutes. Later, cool the mixture in the refrigerator for approximately 4 hours or let it be in the refrigerator for the whole night. Serve it cold in the morning and enjoy the healthy dessert.

Flan, most popularly known as Crème Caramel, is famous in all Spanish speaking countries including Cuba and Mexico. This delicious dessert contains egg custard and is flavored with vanilla. It has a smooth and silky texture. These are some of the desserts that are well known in Cuba.

Easy Recipe For Boniatillo

During the holidays in Cuba, this particular sweet-potato pudding is very popular.
It is flavored with cream, cinnamon, vanilla, limejuice and more. Everyone that tastes it will love this wonderful and delicious Cuban traditional dessert. Serve it hot or chill it for a couple of hours, it tastes great either way. The below written recipe can easily serve four people.

Ingredients

* Brown Sugar – 2 Cups
* Sweet potato – 1 and a 1/2 lbs
* Cinnamon – 1 stick
* Heavy Cream – 1 Cup
* Salt – 1 Tsp
* 2 limes
* Egg Yolks – 3
* Butter – 1 Tablespoon
* Vanilla extract – 1 Tablespoon
* Grated cinnamon stick
* Ground cinnamon – 1/8 teaspoon
* Water

How to Prepare:

Chop the sweet potatoes and chop them. Cover them with water in a pan. Boil it for about 20 mins after adding a teaspoon of salt or until it becomes tender. Sometime later, drain the potatoes and mash them with a blender or a processor.

Save the fruit after peeling it. Use the peel in a big pan and add brown sugar to it. Also add 2 cups of water and cinnamon stick to the same. At moderate heat, cook the mixture until it reaches 250 degree F, keep stirring it constantly. Use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature.

Turn the heat to low after removing the peel and the cinnamon. Until the mixture becomes smooth, keep stirring it after adding the mashed potatoes. Remove it off the heat. Beat the cream, egg yolks and butter with a little salt for taste and then add it to the potato mixture.

For a couple of minutes cook it and then take the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla. If the mixture is too liquid, mix a cup of cornstarch with a quarter cup of water and add it. Garnish each pudding with a little ground cinnamon and serve it.

Baked Apples- Your kids will surely love this yummy treat. All you have to do is core an apple and cut into bite size cubes. Melt a little butter and mix brown sugar into it. Roll the apple pieces into the mixture and put them in medium sized bowl. Bake in the oven at 350° for about half an hour. You can even do the apples in a microwave. Chill the baked apples and serve with whipped cream and granola topping.

Banana Bites- Simply cut the bananas into bite size pieces and roll into melted chocolate or peanut butter- whichever your children love more! Top with crushed nuts or granola. You can even use chocolate chips if you use chocolate instead of peanut butter. Freeze the banana bites and serve chilled.

Yogurt and Fruit Parfait- This delicious kin of a dessert is fast gaining popularity. Moreover, it does not take more than five minutes to make. Simply make layers of yogurt (preferably a low sugar type) and fresh fruits. For adding variety, you can even put in a few layers of granola or top it with granola and whipped cream topping. Serve chilled. This layered treat is best made in a tall glass, so all the tempting layers are visible.

There is nothing better than a delicious dessert after a meal. All you need is to redo your classic recipes a little to make them healthier. You can be very creative here. The result will not only make your family drool but they will love the variety too. Go ahead and try it!

Utensils required:
•    One sauce pan.
•    An ice cream scoop and a bowl.
•    A hand held electric mixer
•    One wooden spoon
•    One shallow container with a lid.
Easy recipe to make vanilla ice cream:
Ingredients:
•    A cup of milk
•    2 cups of whipping cream
•    One cup sugar
•    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
•    1 cup half and half
•    2 cups cookies.
Pour the milk in a saucepan and scald it. Heat it on a medium flame till it reaches 150 degree F or until it starts bubbling in the edges. Then stop heating it and keep it aside.
Add the sugar and some salt in the saucepan containing milk and stir is well till it gets dissolved. But make sure you have removed the milk from the stove.
Now cool the milk to around 60 degree F as soon as you can. To do this keep the bowl in a bigger bowl filled with iced water.
When the mixture is cooled just close it with a plastic lid and keep it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. It is advised to keep it in the refrigerator for 24hrs. Allowing it to cool makes it easy to whip and the texture of the ice cream becomes better.
When the chilling process is over just take the bowl out and stir the mixture well. Take the mixture in a container, close the lid and place it in the freezer for 2 hours.
After two hours remove it from the freezer and beat it with a hand blender. That makes the ice crystals break and then place it in the freezer again for another hour or two.
Repeat the process again, take the bowl out and beat it and this time the mixture will be smooth and too easy to scoop. If it doesn’t look so keep it back in the freezer.
After some time take it out and check. If the ice cream is thick enough put some cookies and chocolate chips and mix it. Place it back in the freezer and when it hard enough take it out, scoop and serve. Happy Cooking!

If you are into sports or modeling. It is best you stay away from desserts as it has a lot of calories in them. For lesser mortals it is best that eat dessert that is nutritious.

Let us now look at some healthy recipes that can help you lose weight:

1) CHEESECAKE – The ingredients for this dessert are wheat graham crackers, part skim ricotta cheese and jam.

The nutritional facts are Calories – 141kcal, Fat – 4g, sodium – 35mg, Protein – 1g, Carbohydrate – 27g, Fiber – 2g and Cholesterol – 0 mg .

2) CRISPY APPLE AND WALNUT – The components are apples, unbleached flour, nutmeg, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, light margarine.

It has 141kcal, 4gs of fat, and 35mg of sodium, 1g of protein, 27g of carbohydrate and 2gs of fiber.

3) ALMOND AND YOGURT ICE CREAM - The constituents needed are fat free plain yogurt, homey, low fat vanilla soymilk, almonds and canola oil.

Calories – 173, Cholesterol – 2mg, Protein – 7g, Sodium – 75mg, Carbohydrate – 26g, Fiber – 1g, Total fat – 5g, Potassium – 286mg, Saturated fat – 0g, Mono saturated fat- 3g, Calcium – 227mg.

4) PINEAPPLE DELIGHT - The components are ripe pineapple, dark rum and little zest. Nutritional information per serving: Calories – 79, protein – 1g, Mono saturated fat – 1g, Total fat – 2g, Saturated fat – 1g, Carbohydrate – 15g, Sodium – 1mg, Fiber – 1g.

5) CHOCOLATE MOUSSE - The elements are unsweetened cocoa powder, brewed strong coffee, large egg, low fat milk, corn syrup, sugar, egg whites, salt, vanilla and water.

Nutritional information per serving: Calories – 294 (53 from fat) , Fat – 6g, Saturated fat – 3g, Total carbohydrate – 53g, Cholesterol – 28mg, Fiber – 1g, Sodium – 187mg, Protein – 7g, Calcium – 0, Iron – 2 units, Vitamin C – 0, Vitamin A – 137units.

Health is one of nature’s greatest gifts to mankind. A healthy body gives us a lot of positive thoughts and helps us become creative. A healthy body is like a great asset. Even though people do not engage in physical activities, they can control their diet and stay healthy.

Utensils needed:

1. A wooden spoon.
2. A medium sized bowl.
3. A sharp knife.
4. And small bowls to serve with small spoons.

Ingredients needed:

1. Fruits like papaya, orange, apple, custard apple, mango, strawberries, kiwis etc.
2. Milk (1 ltr)
3. Chocolate sauce
4. Sugar (1/2 cup)
5. Ice Cream (Butter Scotch/Vanilla)

Procedure:

1. Take milk in a vessel and heat it, as it starts boiling add sugar to it and lower the flame. Stir well till the sugar gets dissolved completely. Then remove it from the flame.
2. Cut all the fruits in a medium sized bowl and mix it together. The shapes can be chosen by you as you want it to be.
3. Put the fruits in the milk and leave it for some time.
4. Later serve the fruits in small bowls and make sure the bowl is half filled with the milk. The fruits should look like iceberg on the milk.
5. Scoop the ice cream into small scoops and place it in the sides of the bowl.
6. Now heat the chocolate sauce and pour it on the bergs of fruit that are seen on the top. Also pour some on the Ice Cream scoops.
7. Your fruit salad is ready to serve.

Fruits are very quick to make, and the simple to serve in a get together, one simple way would be to cut them in stylish shapes and sizes and present them in plates. Here one should have a variety of fruits depending on the guests’ tastes. If the guests are known, then their tastes would be known, if the guests are new then stock up the favorite fruits like (mangoes and pineapples)

One secret to jazz up the fruit salad would be to be to experiment with different liqueurs. Experts claim that a hint of vinegar would do wonders to a fruit salad. Recommended fruits would be raspberries and oranges. A touch of honey and caramelized sugar would increase the sweetness of your Dessert.

One can also add fat free yogurt on top of the fruits, this is done in India and is a loved dish in weddings. The other option would be making fat free ice cream and spread on top of the fruits while preparing a salad. This would be a very good way to incite children to eat desserts. A dash of strawberry syrup is also recommended for a heavenly taste.

Health experts also advice people to have fresh fruits as they have all nutrition required for the body. Therefore fruits bought should be consumed immediately. In the case of a mango, a relatively old mango can be used in making a milk shake.

Some of the crowd’s favorite recipes are

Nutritionists also advice people to have fruits are:

1)    Baked Apples

2)    Banana Boats

3)    Pineapple cakes

4)    Strawberries and cream and the list are endless.

There is something special about fruits like the crunching your first apple in autumn, the first bite of strawberries and mangoes in winter. Raw fruits also are an immense source of energy and used by a lot of sportsmen. Tennis players eat bananas during breaks and they are testimonials of being endless sources of energy. Every country has some fruit, which grows in plenty and would be available cheaply. Therefore people must make use of that advantage and consume that fruit in plenty. Having a lot of fruits incorporated in one’s diet equal to a non-vegetarian diet. Fruits do not cause any sort of long-term side effects like meat diet.

It is found that 90% and more, of the youth population are obese and their health problems begin with not being fat-free. Obesity is a major reason for heart attacks and other cardiac issues. And most people are obese not because of the meal they eat, but due to the dessert they consume after the meal.

The desserts served in normal places are prepared out of ingredients that can promote obesity, diabetes etc. The normal desserts use sugar and other taste-makers that are harmful to health. Healthy Desserts are ones that use substitute sweeteners and better ingredients, which are not harmful, but they give the same taste of the normal sugar and taste-makers. Healthy Desserts are the only advised ones for people suffering from obesity and also for people who do not want to be obese.

Most of the website that are about recipes would give you wrong information about healthy desserts. Perhaps, they use the same unhealthy ingredients that I was talking about. Research thoroughly, before you choose the website from which you would want to make the dessert. Otherwise, even after having the so called ‘healthy dessert’, you might face the same problems that I was mentioning about.

You can find books that are available in the market that would help you prepare mouth-watering desserts. However, the price of the book might scare you, but I suggest it is better to invest in a book now than to invest in a hospital late. It is similar in case of the ingredients as well, the substitute sweeteners and other ingredients required to make a healthy dessert can comparatively be costlier than the normal ones, but it is always better than the ones that will make you obese and a diabetic.