WW Creamy Lemon Pie (Modified)

Source: A Weight Watchers weekly handout; this was modified in various ways, both intentional and not. As such, I recalculated the points to see where it landed.

Weight Watchers Points Plus value (if you go by the original recipe): 4 pts+ (10 servings)

Weight Watchers Points Plus value (if you go by my recipe): 5 pts+ (10 servings)

Yes, I somehow managed to make it more. I'm awesome like that.

As always, my comments in italics, below.

WW CREAMY LEMON PIE

6 whole reduced-fat cinnamon graham crackers (because I am a genius, and only wrote "graham crackers" on my list, I ended up with reduced-fat honey graham crackers. I also used 8 instead of 6.)

2 Tbsp butter (I used margarine instead)

11 oz fat-free sweetened condensed milk (I used the whole 14-oz can)

2 large eggs (I was going to try egg whites instead, but I only had 2 eggs in my fridge, and it's a 2:1 ratio if you just use whites - 2 eggs worth of egg whites = 1 egg with yolk. So I'll maybe try that next time.)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (I didn't measure... I squeezed the juice out of two small lemons and called it good)

1 Tbsp lemon zest (again... didn't measure. Just zested one of the small lemons until I could zest no more)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grind graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Or place crackers in a resealable plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. (or, you know, find some way to smash them into little bits. I chose to mash them with the flat side of a meat tenderizer. Your choice.) Place crumbs in a small bowl.

Melt butter (or margarine) on stovetop or in microwave and pour over graham cracker crumbs, mixing with a fork until completely moistened. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom of a 9" pie pan; place crust in refrigerator while preparing lemon filling.

In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk and eggs; mix until smooth. Add lemon juice and zest; stir until incorporated and pour into prepared crust. ("until incorporated" -? Who writes this?!)

Bake pie for 15 minutes. Cool completely and for best flavor, serve chilled. Yields 1 piece per serving.

Note: This pie can be baked and frozen for up to two weeks. Defrost and serve chilled.

Verdict: Omg, yummy! Also, I am apparently incapable of figuring out how to cut a pie into 10 pieces, so I ended up with 12 pieces, which actually brings my point total per piece back down to 4. I also put a dab of fat-free cool whip on top, which adds zero points. Delish!

Leftover quality: I can't imagine it would suck... after all, it's a PIE we're talking about.

Microwave Cake

Source: Passed down from Pampered Chef consultants since the dawn of... whenever someone realized they could do this.

Notes: The caveat is, of course, that you have to have a Pampered Chef rice cooker for this to work. However, these things make perfect rice, and there are a couple other recipes I have for this thing, so I would consider it worth the investment. ($25). I mostly made this on a whim since I wanted to try it out for a show I am doing next week. I used a lemon cake/frosting combo, but you can do anything you'd like.

MICROWAVE CAKE

Box of cake mix (any flavor)
Jar of frosting (any flavor)
Ingredients to make said cake, according to box

Mix cake according to package directions and mix right in the Rice Cooker.

When batter is mixed, "glop" the frosting right on top of the batter.


Cover and microwave for 8-9 minutes.

Remove from microwave and let stand for about 3-5 minutes. Remove cover and invert onto a large* platter or large shallow bowl. The frosting will spread all over the top and sides of the cake.

*Yes, you want something very large - the frosting will be sorta all over the place if you don't have a large enough plate/bowl to catch it. I think I went a smidge too long (I went 9 minutes) - mine was kind of runny. You can always spoon the extra on top of the servings, too.


Verdict: Not as good as a regular, oven-baked cake... but not horrible, and definitely a nice "party trick" of sorts. It's fun more than anything - kind of a novelty food. Texture is kind of spongey which I didn't love, but that's kind of my personal taste. I could tell I didn't mix it as well as I could/should have.

Also, I would recommend being slightly more graceful than I, and not just plunking it on a platter. Otherwise you lose the cool frosting-flowing effect that I think you are supposed to get.

Leftover quality: This is actually really good as leftovers... I almost like it better than when it was "fresh"- ! Yum.