Aug 16

Aug 16 Fat Free Cheesecake Filling with Fruit Compote and Cake Croutons

I am not a big sweets person. I seem to get most of my extra calories from salty, dip-able treats like pita bread and hummus or tortilla chips and salsa. Greg and I often have sweets in the house that end up going bad because neither of us think to eat them. It’s strange because when I was a kid I loved donuts. My dad would get a dozen donuts on a Saturday morning and I would eat two (Boston and vanilla cream) with milk for breakfast. I guess years of dieting and being on Weight Watchers has taken away the pleasure of enjoying sugary indulgences.

Lately, Greg and I have been trying to reduce our food waste. The FDA estimates that in the United States we waste between 30-40 percent of our food supply. So, I have been thinking about ways to repurpose food that we have in the house. This week I was specifically thinking about cake. Oh cake, I love you and I hate you. How many of you have been in this predicament? You get invited to a birthday party (or someone is nice enough to throw you a birthday party) and you eat your piece of cake and the host…as you are walking out the door…hands you the remaining leftover cake. If you love sweets and are not programmed to fear all things sugary, this is great. I on the other hand think, “crap, now I have to throw all this cake away.” In an effort to reduce my wasting of other peoples wonderful baking, I have come up with two new (for me) strategies to handle the cake dilemma. One, freeze the cake. I am not sure why this thought never crossed my mind. I am going to cut the cake into individual portions and pop those in the freezer. Then if I want something sweet, I can just defrost a piece. Two, create a recipe that uses the left-over cake in a new and interesting way.

I have created a weight watchers friendly, fat free, lemon no-bake cheesecake with a berry compote and CAKE CROUTONS. Cake Croutons people! This would be a perfect dessert on a hot summer night. Everything can be made ahead of time, you just need a piece of leftover cake to make it happen.

Does anyone else have this problem with sweets? Do you love the idea of a cake crouton? Let me know in the comments.

Metal colander with fresh strawberries, blackberries and mint on white wooden background.

Glass jar with berry compote. Stripped napkin.

Fat free cream cheese in a large metal mixing bowl.

Two fat free cheesecake filling with fruit compote desserts on a marble background. Part of a small cake, berries and bowl.

Cheesecake and berry compote in a glass dessert bowl.

Fat Free Cheesecake Filling with Fruit Compote and Cake Croutons

Print Recipe

Author: Jodi Boatman Prep Time: 3 Hours 20 Minutes Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 30 Minutes Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

2 C strawberries, quartered
1 C blackberries
1 TSP stevia
3 TBSP lemon juice

8 oz fat free cream cheese
8 oz fat free whipped topping
3 TSP stevia
3 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP lemon zest

1 piece of left-over cake (I am using Trader Joe’s Chantilly Cream Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake), cut into 1 inch cubes.

4 mint leaves for garnish

Instructions:

Fruit Compote:
Place fruit, juice and stevia in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 10 minutes. As you stir the fruit, mash a bit with your spoon.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Cheesecake Filling:
Add cream cheese, stevia and lemon juice to a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth, about 3-5 minutes.
Fold in whipped topping to the cream cheese mixture until combined.
Add to 4 bowls and refrigerate for at least three hours to set.

To assemble the deserts, add 1/4 compote and 1/4 cake croutons to refrigerated cheesecake mixture and top with a mint leaf. Enjoy!