You CAN have your CAKE (and still lose weight)

THere are moments in life when only a piece of cake will do — a family birthday or anniversary, even a neighbour popping over for coffee and a catch-up. or perhaps it’s just cold and wintry outside.

and there’s something very satisfying about conjuring up cakes and biscuits in your kitchen. it’s no wonder more of us than ever have turned to baking as an antidote to the stresses of lockdown and working from home.

Baking a cake is also a great half-term activity for bored youngsters, particularly if the weather outside is awful.

But how, you may wonder, does all this fit into the weight-loss commitments you’ve made in your quest to transform your health and fitness in 2022?

well, the good news is that on ww’s PersonalPoints programme no foods are off limits, so if you fancy a slice of cake to celebrate a birthday — go ahead!

‘Just make sure you have enough Points in your Budget. if not, dip into your weeklies. This flexibility is there so you can enjoy special occasions or the odd treat,’ says ww nutritionist Jess o’shea.

Better still, on the ww programme you will learn ways to make cakes that are not only scrumptious but will also gobble up fewer of your daily Points.

not only that, but if you add healthy foods to the mix, you could add extra Points too! Yes, treating yourself just got even easier, thanks to ww’s PersonalPoints programme. it rewards you for eating more vegetables such as carrots, beetroot and courgettes — all of which are often added to cakes for fibre, texture and natural sweetness. (see the ww app for a list of vegetables that add extra PersonalPoints.)

‘There are a number of swaps you can make when baking a cake that will lower its Points value,’ says Jess. ‘You can use these to adapt your own recipes — simply add all the ingredients into the recipe function of My food on the ww app and it will do the maths for you!’

for instance, try replacing cream with 0 per cent fat, strained, natural Greek yoghurt for a dessert that’s lower in PersonalPoints.

‘You’ll be surprised how creamy it is, despite being fat-free, and it works well as a protein-packed substitute for cream, which contains saturated fat,’ says Jess.

‘There are some tasty ingredients you can substitute for added sugar — including apple sauce and ground cinnamon, which are naturally sweet. if you’re worried you might miss out on flavour, you could also add ground cardamom and ginger for extra punch!’

replacing oil with pureed banana reduces the calories and provides moisture and volume.

To inspire you further as we continue our exclusive ww series in the Mail, we’re sharing a selection of tempting cakes and bakes.

These make use of clever swaps to show you how easy it is to enjoy the sweet things in life and still stay on track with your weightloss and health goals.