Finding fat-free desserts is hard to do. As I've talked about before, my dad had a heart-attack pretty recently so cooking for him can be a challenge, especially in the dessert area! This shortcake is easy, low cal, and most importantly-- fat & cholesterol free. I first attempted to make a strawberry shortcake recipe from one of my cookbooks, "Cook Yourself Thin Faster." The shortcakes were TINY and still contained fat-- very unsatisfying. I knew Angel food cake is inherently fat-free, so I decided to use that as my shortcake base. I re-worked the filling from that recipe, substituted angel food cake, and changed the topping completely. And the result was.. amazing! This recipe makes a lot-- 12 servings and they are a pretty generous serving size so you definitely won't be left hungry. At under 200 calories a serving, it's certainly the guilt-free dessert everyone can enjoy. Everyone in my family loved it-- which is rare! We make this pretty often now.
Ingredients:
- 1 Box Angel Food Cake Mix (We used Duncan Hines)
- 3 C. Non-fat Vanilla Yogurt
- Orange Zest to taste
- Lemon Zest to taste
- 6 tsp. Baking Splenda
- 3 lb. Strawberries
- 5 tsp. Orange Juice
For the Strawberry Topping:
1. Cut up strawberries into bite size pieces.
2. Toss with 3 tsp. Splenda (add more or less depending on ripeness of your strawberries!)
3. Add 5 tsp. Orange Juice and toss. Cover and refrigerate.
For the Angel Food Cake:
1. Follow directions on box-- if high altitude, make adjustments listed. Cook until DARK golden brown and dry, do not undercook!
2. Turn upside down and cool completely.
3. Cut into 12 pieces.
Note: You can totally make angel food cake from scratch that's even better but I don't usually have that may egg whites just laying around. Also, you could use store-bought angel food cake but I hate it. Okay, thanks for listening.
Note: You can totally make angel food cake from scratch that's even better but I don't usually have that may egg whites just laying around. Also, you could use store-bought angel food cake but I hate it. Okay, thanks for listening.
For Filling:
1. Mix Yogurt, 3 tsp. Splenda, orange and lemon zest.
I first tried 3 tsp. lemon zest and it was WAY too lemon-y. Then I tried 1.5 lemon and 1.5 orange, which was still too lemon-y in my opinion but my mom loved. So adjust to your liking, start small and work up. Sometimes when I'm feeling wild, I beat in a little light cream cheese. But then it's not fat free anymore and everyone loses.
I first tried 3 tsp. lemon zest and it was WAY too lemon-y. Then I tried 1.5 lemon and 1.5 orange, which was still too lemon-y in my opinion but my mom loved. So adjust to your liking, start small and work up. Sometimes when I'm feeling wild, I beat in a little light cream cheese. But then it's not fat free anymore and everyone loses.
Spoon yogurt mixture over cake and top with strawberry mixture. Enjoy!
