Light, Fluffy and Oh, So Good!

 

     You are seeing a "theme" in my cooking style lately. It is all about eating healthy without giving up anything...like dessert! Valentine's Day we decided to avoid the crowds and have dinner at home. We had filets, salad and baked potatoes for dinner. I wanted to make something special for dessert and I found a recipe online from Taste of Home that was just perfect for us. I made a few minor adjustments and put it through a calorie counter. Each slice of 1/12th of the torte has 151 calories without whipping cream. I added 2 T. of Reddi Whip real whipping cream for an additional 15 calories.  

 

     Strawberry Schaum Torte

 

Ingredients:

8 egg whites

1 T. white vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

2 cups sliced strawberries

whipping cream (optional)

 

Preheat Oven to 300 degrees

Grease a 10 inch springform pan (I used Pam)

 

 

     Place egg whites in a bowl and let them stand 30 minutes to room temperature. Add the vinegar, vanilla and salt and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat until glossy and stiff peaks have formed. Beat long enough for the sugar to be almost completely dissolved. See picture below.

 

Spread into the greased springform pan.

Bake at 300 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until lightly browned.

 

 

Remove from the oven and put on a wire rack to cool.

The meringue will come out of the oven very puffy and pretty.

 

 

Then it falls to smashed and ugly!

 

 

When cool, remove the sides from the

springform pan and place on serving plate.

 

 

     At this point, if you are serving a group...you could put the berries and whipped cream on the entire top of the torte. We were only using 2 slices, so I decorated each piece and put the rest in a container in the refrigerator. It was perfectly delicious for a couple of days after it was made. It is very light and soft. It was the perfect ending to our meal without making us feel stuffed.

 

 

 

     I'm often asked if we really use the tablescapes that I set. The truth is...not often. Last week I showed the table set for a Valentine brunch. That table wasn't used. The picture below shows how the table really looked for the two of us on Valentine's Day.

 

 

I am joining Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for

Tablescape Thursday and

Michael @ Rattlebridge Farm for

Foodie Friday

Need A Yummy Low-Cal Appetizer for the Game? Giveaway!

     When I think of Superbowl Sunday, the first thing I think of isn't football...it is the food! I am all about appetizers and desserts and could really care less about actual meals! I, like many of you, have been trying to make some healthy eating choices since the first of the year. My daughter sent me this recipe for a baked version of Crab Rangoon and it is really good. If I were serving it to guests, I might dress it up a little bit with a bit of green onion tops or paprika after baking. I put this recipe into a calorie calculator and each piece has 56 calories and 2 grams of fat. They are so easy to make! I used the leftover wonton wrappers with 1 T. of chocolate chips in the middle, folded in half and baked until brown for a 90 calories sweet treat. 

Baked Crab Rangoon

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

1 can (6 oz) white crabmeat, drained 

4 oz reduced fat cream cheese 

1/4 cup light mayonnaise

sprinkle of season salt

12 wonton wrappers (found in the produce section)

     Mix the drained crab, cream cheese, mayo and season salt together in a bowl until smooth. I just used a spatula. Spray a regular sized muffin tin with cooking spray. Place a wonton wrapper in each hole of the tin. Gently press them in to make a "cup" to hold the cheese mixture. Spoon a teaspoonful of filling into each wonton "cup". Bake about 18 minutes until edges of the wontons are slightly brown and filling is heated. I don't cook with onions, but for those that do, you could add some green onion to the mix and leave out the season salt. 

     These are really good. Do I wish they had more filling, of course...could I eat all 12 of them, absolutely. What I liked the most was that they taste like a real appetizer and you don't feel as if you are missing out on something. 

I am joining Michael @ Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday.

Please check out all the wonderful recipes there today. 

Don't forget to sign up for my Foodie Giveaway!

Click Here!