Low-Fat Birthday Cakes

A normal slice of cake contains from 400 to 700 calories and has 30 to 50 grams of fat. These tasty treats weigh in with 275 calories and only 4 grams of fat. Much of the savings come from using cocoa powder and syrup, which have no fat.

Crust Ingredients:

1 cup reduced-fat wafer cookies
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs. light butter
2 Tbs. corn syrup (for moisture)

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. When well combined, turn into a pie plate and cover with a piece of wax paper (this will keep your hands clean). Press the dough through the paper until it is evenly distributed in the plate.

Filling Ingredients:

1-1/2 Tbs. reduced-fat peanut butter
1/4 cups chocolate syrup
6 cups slightly melted frozen yogurt (vanilla or peanut butter)

Preparation:

Mix peanut butter and chocolate syrup together and drizzle about 2/3 of mixture on the bottom of the crust. Cover evenly. Whip the frozen yogurt with a whisk until pliable and pour into pie plate over crust and syrup. Freeze until hardened.

Drizzle Ingredients:

1 tsp. nonfat milk
remaining peanut butter/chocolate syrup

Preparation:

Combine the two ingredients well. It should be drippy. Drizzle over frozen pie.

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon fat-free coffee-flavored frozen yogurt
8 reduced-fat sandwich cookies, crushed
various decorations such as fruit, nonfat whipped cream or nonfat candy

Line the bottom of a springform pan with aluminum foil on the outside of the pan (see photo at right). Press half of softened frozen yogurt into the pan. Freeze. Crush cookies in food processor or put them in a plastic bag and pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin.

Sprinkle the crumbs over the frozen yogurt until completely covered. Cover the crumbs with remaining frozen yogurt and flatten the top. Decorate in anyway desired, keeping in mind the fat content of your ingredients.