Desserts!

I have 3 desserts here that are lower-fat. The pie is a little indulgent, but just have a smaller piece!

First off, parfaits. I used both chocolate and vanilla Mori Nu pudding mixes, layered with frozen thawed raspberries, complete with chocolate shavings. (you can shave chocolate with a vegetable peeler, grater, or microplane). Very simple but somewhat impressive.



Next, Peaches and Cream. I just blended Ciao Bella coconut gelato with frozen peaches in the Vitamix.



And finally, Cherry Cheese Pie! Recipe below




This is just a veganized version of this recipe.

But what's a vegan to do since we don't have sweetened condensed milk? Make your own, of course. Silk recipes to the rescue! (I know the original recipe says 14oz, but 12 worked fine). I sort of Sandra Lee'd it because I used canned cherry pie filling AND a reduced-fat graham cracker crust...give me a break. I made my own sweetened condensed milk, and you will, too. The rest is a breeze. This pie doesn't really set up like the original, so if you want to experiment with a stabilizer like agar or cornstarch, go for it and let me know!

Cherry Cheese Pie Recipe

*1 pre-made pie crust (I used Reduced Fat Keebler). You can very well make a low-fat crust on your own, or just crush up graham crackers, or skip it altogether and serve in cups
*1 8-oz pkg. Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese (both the hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated have the same fat and calories, but I try to use the non-hydrogenated)
*1/3 cup lemon juice from concentrate
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1 can cherry pie filling (you can use strawberry, raspberry, or blueberry also)

For Condensed Milk:
*4 1/2 cups soy/other non-dairy milk
*3/4 c sugar
*3/4 tsp vanilla
*large pinch salt


Make the condensed milk:
Combine milk and sugar in a saucepan and put over low heat. Stir very frequently until mixture thickens and equals 1 1/2 cups. (This will take a long time, but DO NOT turn the heat up to high or go far from the stove. Sugar burns quickly and you will have to start over). Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt. Cool completely.

After condensed milk is cooled, beat Tofutti cream cheese in a bowl until fluffy. Add homemade condensed soy milk. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla and pour into graham crust. Chill 3-4 hours then top with pie filling.

Note: You can make this in a small square pan for easier serving if preferred. Just remove crust from the pan it's in, crush it with your hands, and put in the bottom of an 8"x8" or 9"x9" sprayed pan and proceed as directed.
Slice pie into 8 or 16 servings. Each 1/8th serving has 10.75g fat/356 cal, each 1/16 serving has 5.38g fat/178 cal, if using the same brand crust as I did.