Diabetic - Chocolate & berry mousse pots,christmas pudding, mince pies and christmas cake

Eating at Christmas is part of the fun, and there’s no need to completely miss out on certain foods. But a healthy diet is important for managing diabetes, so if you have the condition then you can always consider having healthy versions of classic Christmas dishes. This might mean adapting recipes so that they are more balanced, lower in fat and include plenty of vegetables and fruit.

Make sensible choices (but still enjoy yourself!)

Here are some examples of the kind of easy ways you can cut calories and fat from your main Christmas meal without compromising on taste:

Turkey: Remove the skin and eat light-coloured meat (breast) rather than dark meat (thigh) to reduce your calorie intake.

Pigs in blankets: Use low-fat cocktail sausages and pierce the skins. Wrap with lean back-bacon (with the excess fat trimmed off) and grill, rather than fry or bake, to allow any excess fat to drain away. Try and limit yourself to two or three.

Roast potatoes: Keep the amount of fat you add to a minimum by dry-roasting or using spray oil.

Stuffing: Avoid high-fat, high-calorie sausage meat. Instead use vegetarian stuffing such as sage and onion or chestnut and cook in a separate dish to the turkey. (you will find stuffing recipe in Vegetarian recipes.

Vegetables: Try to fill at least two-fifths of your plate with vegetables. They are low in calories, help you feel fuller for longer and leave less room for unhealthy foods. If possible boil or steam rather than fry.

But I am sure that if you are a diabetic you know all this already, below are a few desserts recipes which should not rock the boat.

Chocolate & berry mousse pots

PREP: 15 MINS COOK: 5 MINS EASY SERVES 4

75g dark chocolate 70% grated

4 tbsp low-fat yogurt

2 large egg whites

2 tsp caster sugar

350g berries (try blueberries, raspberries, cherries or a mix)

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t directly touch the water. Once melted, allow it to cool for 5-10 mins, then stir in the yogurt.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then whisk in the sugar and beat until stiff again. Fold the whites into the chocolate mix – loosen the mixture first with a spoonful of egg white, then carefully fold in the rest, keeping as much air as possible.

Put berries into small glasses or ramekins, then divide mousse on top. Chill in the fridge until set.

Christmas Pudding

SERVES8 PREP15 minutes COOK 1 hour 15 minutes

25g sultanas

25g currants

25g raisins

10g mixed peel

1 tbsp mixed spice

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

1 spray of oil or ½ tsp oil

20g glace cherries, chopped + 5 left whole to top 10g whole almonds

1 small banana

1 unpeeled apple, grated

1 small carrot, grated

50g fine oatmeal

30g wholemeal flour

½ tsp baking powder

Grated zest 1 orange

Grated zest 1 lemon

10g sunflower seeds

10g pumpkin seeds

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4 and boil the kettle.

Put all the dried fruits and spices into a bowl, mix thoroughly and add 50ml boiling water. Cover and leave for 15 minutes.

Brush the oil around a 1 pint pudding basin. Arrange the whole cherries and whole almonds on the bottom.

In a separate bowl, mash the banana and mix in the grated apple, carrot, oatmeal, flour, baking powder, zest and seeds.

Add the fruits, spices and water they were soaking in, mixing everything together well. Spoon into the pudding basin.

Cover with pleated greaseproof paper and foil, and wrap tightly over the basin.

Stand the basin in a in a deep oven tray with 5cm of water in it (this is called a bain marie). Bake for 1 hour.

Remove from the bain marie and cook for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, but leave covered. Allow to cool a little before serving.

Mince Pies

MAKES 12 PREP 15 minutes COOK 15-20 minutes, plus 20 minutes chilling time

For the pastry

150g wholemeal flour

75ml rapeseed oil

50ml cool water

For the filling

150g vegetarian mincemeat

75g apple, grated and unpeeled

50g carrot, grated

1 tbsp sunflower seeds

1 heaped tsp mixed spice

For the toppings

½ apple, finely chopped

½ pear, finely chopped

dash lemon juice

1 fresh fig, cut into small wedges

3 walnut halves

3 glacé cherries, halved

2 tsp toasted, flaked almonds • grated orange zest

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Make the pastry by mixing all the ingredients together, then kneading a few times. Roll into a ball, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the mincemeat with the grated apple, carrot, sunflower seeds and mixed spice.

Roll out the pastry, cut into rounds and line a 12-cup shallow bun tin.

Add the mincemeat mixture to the pastry cases so they are three-quarters full, then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack.

Prepare the toppings (see ingredient list), squeezing lemon juice over the apple and pear to stop browning.

Just before serving, garnish the pies with a variety of the topping ingredients: wedge of fresh fig and a walnut: 1 tsp apple or pear, plus a cherry: a few flaked toasted almonds with orange zest, or any combination you like – use your imagination!

Rich fruit cake

SERVES 12 PREP TIME 20 minutes COOK TIME 1.5 hours

75g sultanas

100g raisins

25g candied peel

100ml boiling water

1 banana (100g), mashed

2 eggs, beaten

75ml rapeseed oil

1 courgette (200g), grated

1 apple (100g), grated

1 carrot (80g), finely grated

150g wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp mixed spice

6 glacé cherries, halved

20g whole, blanched almond

Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas 3. Add the sultanas, raisins and peel to a bowl, cover with the boiling water and set aside.

Mix together the mashed banana, eggs and oil in a large bowl, and beat well.

Mix in the courgette, apple and carrot, then stir in the

flour, baking powder and mixed spice. Next, add the dried fruit, plus soaking water.

Mix well and put into a 20cm cake tin lined with baking parchment, top with the cherries and almonds. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 1½ hours. Remove the foil 15–20 minutes before the end of the cooking time, then bake for the remainder of the time.

Test with a skewer or knife, which should come out clean when cooked, and remove from the oven.