Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Pineapple Ice Cream Sundaes

Desserts

It’s my birthday tomorrow and I’m turning the big 3-0!  I’m not exactly sure how this happened so quickly, but I’m excited for the future and by the fact that Apolinaras promised to bring home my favorite carrot cake cupcakes from Petsi’s Pies!

Speaking of birthdays, I realized that I never posted the dessert I made for Apolinaras’ birthday last month. He actually doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, and I usually make this cake by Paula Deen for him that features pineapple and coconut, but this year he said he didn’t even want a cake since he was still in cutting mode for his bodybuilding. I couldn’t take no for an answer though and decided to whip up something healthy that he would still enjoy. I combined fresh pineapple with low-fat cottage cheese, lime juice, and sugar, ran it through my ice cream machine and then made mini sundaes layered with toasted coconut and fresh strawberries. You can definitely taste the cottage cheese, which Apolinaras really enjoyed, but I have to admit I prefer the real deal. But, it’s a nice light treat for those days that you’re craving something sweet but don’t want to undo the progress you made in the gym!

Pineapple Ice Cream Sundaes
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped fresh pineapple (one pineapple, my 4 cups were 25 ounces)
2 cups low fat cottage cheese
Juice of one lime
3/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
1/2 cup toasted shredded coconut
2 cups chopped strawberries

Directions:
Place pineapple, cottage cheese, lime juice, and sugar in a food processor and pulse until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Place mixture in the fridge and chill until cold, about 2 hours. Place mixture in the ice cream maker and churn according to the machine directions. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving. Layer pineapple ice cream with toasted coconut and strawberries to make mini sundaes. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 192 calories, 2.2g fat, 2.3g fiber, 8.5g protein per serving
Cost: $0.92 per serving

Peppermint Brownie Torte

I’m proud to report that I finally squeezed in some holiday baking! I whipped up these gingerbread cookies and Emily’s soft buttery sugar cookies on Monday night and they were both a big hit at work. Two thumbs up for both recipes! Of course, I also couldn’t let the...

Strawberry Cheesecake Filled Yellow Cake

Have you had any baking disasters? I’ve had my fair share, and naturally, they all tend to occur when I’m making a treat to share at a party. One time the pecan crust just fell off the sides of a cheesecake I had made for a lab birthday celebration. Another time a...

White Chocolate Cheesecake Tart with an Oatmeal Cookie Crust and Cranberry Topping

We're at the San Francisco airport right now, and I'm feeling quite productive working on a blog post while we wait to board our flight to New Zealand! We're so excited to explore the country and take a much needed break from the daily grind. We're already off to a...

Peanut Butter and Banana Parfaits

I may have a hard time remembering most facts, but my memory is almost perfect when it comes to recalling the details of remarkable meals. Two of my very favorite desserts we enjoyed while living in Chicago featured bananas. We devoured crispy cannoli shells filled...

Pistachio Mint Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies

Does anyone else hoard baking chips? My drawer is currently overflowing with regular chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, mini chocolate chips, mini M&Ms, regular M&Ms, Heath toffee chips, and Andes Crème de Menthe chips. And I recently used all my peanut butter...

Chocolate-Filled Plantain Dessert Gnocchi

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter! I hit up the candy aisle to see if I could find some Easter candy on sale this weekend and was disappointed that almost everything was already sold out! Only the small regular solid chocolate eggs were left – they just can’t...

Balsamic Strawberry and Goat Cheese Tarts

I’m sitting in Heathrow right now taking advantage of the free internet from Starbucks before we head to Vilnius via Helsinki in a couple of hours! I’m a planner by nature and usually take charge of organizing all the details of our vacations, but this time Apolinaras...

Pink Lemonade Sorbet

We lived in California when I was 3 years old and one of my favorite pastimes was picking lemons from the tree in our backyard. I actually only vaugely remember the lemon tree (apparently my mom had to routinely stop me from picking too many at once), but freshly...