A Slice That’s Nice!

This morning I took delivery of some quark samples for recipe testing from The Lake District Dairy Company. I want to try out some savoury main meal ideas using the low-fat plain version in recipes that usually rely upon cream. You know the sort – creamy curries, pasta bakes and the like, so I shall be busy over the weekend and will post any ones that work well later in the month. One sample I received was lemon-flavoured and whilst I thought ‘brilliant with fish’ I also remembered a favourite lemon drizzle cake I used to make in my pre-op days. There was nothing for it but to don my apron, get out the mixing bowl and see if I could give it the bariatric-friendly treatment!.

 

So what you see here is an adaptation of my family favourite recipe but without the added sugar and less oil than would normally be required. I used xylitol (xylobrit specifically) to sweeten the mixture instead of caster sugar but I am sure it would work equally well with your own chosen sweetener of preference (and may even come out lower in calories than the stats for mine – since xylitol does have calories unlike many others like Splenda, Natvia etc). It still has about 30 calories less per slice than the original version, about 60% less saturated fat and 30% more protein. At about 6g protein per slice (the same as an egg) it would make a nutritious occasional indulgence without the guilt.

 

I’m guessing it will keep well in an airtight container for up to a week and, like it’s ‘full-fat’ cousin, will get better and more moist as time goes on.

 

LEMON QUARK DRIZZLE CAKE

 

Ingredients

METRIC/US

225g plain flour/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

225g/8 oz xylobrit or the equivalent to 225g/8oz caster/superfine sugar as your chosen sweetener

250ml/1 cup lemon-flavoured quark (or plain quark flavoured with grated lemon zest)

3 large eggs, separated

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

125ml/1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp xylobrit sweetener or granulated sugar

 

Method

1.  Preheat the oven to 180 C/250 F/gas mark 4. Grease the base and sides of a 900g/2 lb non-stick loaf tin/pan and line the base with non-stick baking parchment.

2.  Sift the flour with the baking powder and xylobrit (or other sweetener) into a bowl. Mix the quark with the egg yolks, lemon zest and oil in a jug. Whisk the egg whites in a clean, oil-free bowl until soft peaks form.

3.  Stir the quark mixture into the dry ingredients then add one-third of the egg whites and mix well. Fold in the remaining egg whites with a metal spoon.

4.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 50-55 minutes or until well-risen, golden and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.

5.  Mix the lemon juice with the xylobrit or granulated sugar and spoon over the top of the cake while it is still warm. Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely. Once cold, remove from the tin, peel away the paper and cut into thick slices to serve.

 

MAKES: 12 SLICES

WLS PORTION: 1/2-1 SLICE

V suitable for Vegetarians

* suitable for Freezing

 

CALORIES PER PORTION: 240

PROTEIN: 6g

CARBOHYDRATE: 34.9g

FAT: 12g