Diet Dessert Recipes: Peachy Keen Cake

Diet dessert recipes can help you succeed with your weight loss goals. Traditional desserts and store-bought goodies are frequently so high in fat, calories and sugar that they have no place on a healthy eating plan. Instead of just saying goodbye to sweet treats forever, give some diet dessert recipes a try. You can have your cake and eat it, too - every delicious bite.

Here's a diet dessert recipe that's sure to please the sweetest tooth. Peachy Keen Cake is sweet and moist, and has a fraction of the fat, calories and sugar found in most cakes. The peaches lend a warm flavor, and artificial sweetener works with a small amount of sugar to make a diet dessert which will have you wanting seconds. At roughly 120 calories a slice, you can indulge your senses without adding to your waistline.

Diet Dessert Recipes: Peachy Keen Cake

6 large peaches, fresh
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup artificial sweetener
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
1 egg OR 1 ripe banana, mashed with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk OR 1/2 cup milk, any lower calorie variety, mixed with 1 teaspoon white vinegar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Make cross-cuts on the stem end of each peach with a sharp knife and place the peaches in the boiling water. Boil for about 1 minute, or until the skins start to become soft. Drain boiling water and transfer peaches to a bowl of cold water to cool. Peel, halve and pit the peaches and set aside.

In a medium skillet, combine 1/3 cup of sugar and one tablespoon of butter. Cook together over medium heat for three to five minutes, or until the sugar begins to melt.
Coat an 8x8 square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange the peaches inside, cut side up. Pour the melted sugar over the peaches and set all aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat 1/3 cup artificial sweetener, 1 tablespoon butter and oil with an electric mixer until combined. Add the egg or egg replacer, beating until smooth, then beat in the vanilla and almond extract. With the mixer at low speed, add the buttermilk or buttermilk replacement and the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Do not overbeat.
Spoon the batter evenly over the peaches in the pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes. Loosen the edges of the cake with a knife, and invert the cake onto a serving plate. If any of the peaches stick to the pan, remove them with a knife and replace them on the cake.