Between back-to-back aperitifs and lunches on the terrace, many are looking for lighter desserts without sacrificing taste. The good news? With a few simple adjustments, it is possible to prepare very delicious but much lighter cakes at home. Nutritionists point out that a dessert can remain reasonable as soon as you limit white sugar and butter, while focusing on fruits and wholemeal flours.
With this in mind, the TF1 channel shares five low-calorie cake recipes. These desserts use coconut sugar, honey or agave syrup, vegetable oils and wholemeal flours. Proof that a dessert can remain light without being bland!
Five low-calorie cakes that focus on indulgence
The revisited banana bread requires 450 g of bananas, 50 g of oil and 50 g of coconut sugar, almond milk, wholemeal flour and flaxseed flour. Ripe bananas replace a good part of the sugar and keep the cake ultra soft.
As for the carrot cake, it swaps white flour for a mixture of almonds and mixed oat flakes, with 260 g of grated carrots and crushed walnuts for crunch.
The low-fat yogurt cake retains its comforting side, but is prepared with 0% natural yogurt, only half a pot of oil, three pots of flour and a sachet of vanilla sugar.
For its part, cherry clafoutis uses 500 g of fruit, 80 g of flour, almond milk and a little honey instead of white sugar.
And the apple and pear crumble uses lots of fruit, 160 g of semi-wholemeal flour, 40 g of coconut oil, 40 g of agave syrup and 30 g of 60% dark chocolate.
Good reflexes to adopt for low-calorie cakes
These cakes illustrate a very accessible rule: reduce refined sugar and take advantage of the sugars naturally present in fruits, supplemented by coconut sugar, a little honey or agave syrup. A slice of banana bread or clafoutis already brings a lot of flavor thanks to the bananas, cherries, apples or pears, which avoids the spoonfuls of white sugar added out of habit.
Another key reflex: replace part of the butter with well-dosed vegetable oils or with 0% yogurt, and choose wholemeal flour, oatmeal or flax seeds. According to TF1, these choices increase fiber intake and satiety.
When to enjoy these desserts every day?
To enjoy it without feeling guilty, it is better to plan a small portion, for example a thin slice of cake or an eighth of clafoutis, at the end of a balanced meal or integrated into a snack.