I've mentioned before that I can easily get sucked into the world of Facebook and Instagram reels which offer a lot of dietary information, most of which I tend to ignore because you really can't trust what people are saying when their goal is gaining followers through sensationalism. Recipes and cooking ideas intrigue me, however, and I have watched a lot of cooking demonstrations. I must confess that I am more likely to open a browser and search for a recipe than to open one of my cookbooks. I even have a "recipe' folder on my browser with several food category subfolders for recipes I've gotten off the internet. It is very helpful when you only cook certain things at holidays, and you can't remember how you cooked it a year ago.
I was scrolling through some Instagram reels one day and watched this person make a dessert and thought "I can't believe that is going to come out edible...." But it appeared to turn out very well.
What do I like about this dessert? The first thing I like is that it only requires two things, and I can store both of them in my pantry to have on hand to easily whip up a quick dessert to bring to a gathering. No perishables. The second thing I like is that it only takes about five minutes to make and 30 minutes to bake. When I did a calorie count of the dessert, a portion of it (1/12 of a 9" x 13" baking dish) is only around 158 calories, provided I make a calorie-smart choice of one of the ingredients. To me, this is very calorie friendly for a cake-like dessert. Also, I can make several varieties/versions of it.
The only thing I do not like about this dessert is the fact that I'm not making anything from scratch, which means I'm using pre-made, processed food items from the grocery store.
So, what is this dessert?
It's a cake, actually, but I call it a fruit cobbler, even though it really isn't.
To make this you will need a metal or glass mixing bowl and a 9" X 13" baking dish.
Ingredients:
One box of angel food cake mix.
One can of sugar free or lite fruit pie filling (if you don't care about sugar and more calories, then use regular pie filling).
Do not grease the 9" x 13" baking dish with ANYTHING. Period. Mix the Angel Food Cake mix and the pie filling together in the mixing bowl until all the dry mix is completely incorporated. Break up any lumps. You don't want to see any dry cake mix. Pour the batter into the UNGREASED 9" x 13" baking dish. Bake at 350F for about 25 to 35 minutes. That's it! I suggest when the top gets brown (around 25 minutes into baking) you remove it, stick a cake tester or table knife in the center to see if the cake is done. If it is done, the tester/knife will come out clean. If it is not done, I would bake it for an additional four to five minutes and check it again. It was hard for me to tell doneness without doing this as was still 'jiggly' when cooked, but brown on the top yet still needed more cooking time. I have made this three times, and it never took longer than 35 minutes to bake, but everyone's oven temperature is different.
In case it isn't obvious, the color of the pie filling will end up being the color of the batter and the cake to some degree, so don't get alarmed by how weird it looks. See the photo I posted above for how it can look. It tastes better than it looks in this photo.
I have made this three times. The first time I made it was for a Thanksgiving gathering last year. I used Lucky Leaf caramel apple pie filling. I believe the photo above is the 'cobbler' with that apple caramel pie filling. There were no leftovers. The next time I tried blackberry pie filling. That was also well-received. More recently, I tried cherry pie filling. That was also consumed by my family. I am going to try blueberry, next.
Whipped cream or ice cream can also be a great addition to it if you aren't concerned about calories. The dessert can stand on its own, though.
Even if you barely know how to turn on the oven, you can make this. It requires zero skill. You just have to stick a knife in the center to be sure it's done and not leave it too long in the oven.
If you are a fan of the Great British Baking Show, you will know an angel food cake is what's known as a 'fat-less sponge', meaning the cake has zero fat in it. I chose a Duncan Hines box mix which has 140 calories per servings with 12 servings in the per box. The pie filling has less than one gram of fat as well, which means the dessert is low in fat and not too high in calories, if you stick to sugar free pie filling at 30 calories per serving with 7 servings per can. If you divide the 9 x 13 pan into 12 equal servings, and use sugar free pie filling, you have a dessert that is 158 calories per serving. I checked the nutrition information for two different pie fillings and the calorie count was 30 calories per serving.
Could you make a homemade angel food cake and incorporate pie filling? I have no idea if that would work. That cake batter would already have moisture in it so very hard to tell if adding a can of pie filling would give you the same results. Could you make your own pie filling and incorporate that into a box mix? Probably, but I'd want to be sure that my homemade filling had the same amount of liquid and viscosity as canned pie filling. If you try either of these things, you have now made life more complicated for yourself and I love that for you ha-ha. But please comment and let us know what happened if you tried either of these things.
If you want to kick it up a notch, you can cover the top of the cooled baked cake with whipped cream and fresh berries that complement the fruit filling in the cake. I would recommend refrigerating the cake before covering with whipped cream and, of course, afterwards as well. I probably would not put regular cake frosting on it. I think it would be too heavy for the texture of the cake.
I hope this helps someone who has a hankering for something sweet yet diet friendly.
This is hands-down the easiest thing I've ever made that I bring to a family gathering and has come out consistently every time.
