The Skinny on dessert.

I have a friend who is in the entertainment industry. She is an amazing singer. This songstress is very petite and curvy and voluptuous, very va va voom. She works very hard to be healthy and vibrant and tries to eat well and exercise. A lot of her Facebook statuses are on her diets, her cleanses and detoxes, her exercise regimes followed by stunning photos of her looking radiant as obviously all that Zumba is paying off. I read them and think "I really should do what she's doing" and start feeling exhausted just from the thought of breaking a sweat and then proceed to cook up a storm.... that's my regime!

One day sultry songbird asked me if I knew of a dessert recipe that was less than 150 calories. Short of saying "Why don't you just lick my face as I'm sweet as hell" I thought for all the hardwork she's been putting in I can help by researching low cal desserts, testing out the recipe to see if low cal can equate to good taste and this is how this posting came about ... all in the name of research!

So after looking on the internet I found this gorgeous looking chocolate pudding. Normally when I find a recipe I want to try I do modify it somewhat but this recipe was borrowed straight from Eating Well website. The only thing I did differently was substituted the vanilla essence with peppermint. All the nutrition count and calorie count and whatever else health conscious recipes tend to count were already counted so all I did was made it and tasted it .... all together now .... all in the name of research!!

Long story short ..... if this is what low fat, low cal dessert can taste like ... bring it!! It's dark and rich and lush and taste like it's not low fat at all, delicious!!

Warm Chocolate Mint Pudding

1 large egg
2 1/4 cup low fat or no fat milk
2/3 cup caster sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder (make sure it not the sweetened kind or you can kiss your calorie count goodbye)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon peppermint essence (or vanilla or coconut or almond or whatever your healthy self desires)


1. Combine 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/3 cup sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.

2. Mix the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, cocoa and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining 3/4 cup milk until blended. Whisk the simmering milk mixture into the cocoa mixture. Pour the mixture back into the pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and glossy, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Lightly beat egg with a fork in a medium bowl.

4. Whisk about 1 cup of the hot cocoa mixture into the beaten egg. Return the egg mixture to the pan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until steaming and thickened, about 2 minutes. (Do not boil.) Whisk in essence. Serve warm with fruit or a sprinkle of nuts ... or chill it.

ATTENTION 
* This recipe should yield about 6 serves or pudding at approximately 160 calories per serve.
** All I can say is THANK GOODNESS it's a low cal pudding because how on earth do you stop at just one serve???? TELL ME!!