Low Fat Hot Puddings - Tried and Tasted

With winter well underway the WLR taste team have indulged their sweet teeth and kept their SAD at bay with a whole party of warm sponges. But which low fat puddings did we have the best time with and which would we regret the morning after?

Remember, the Tried and Tasted Team don’t know which product is which, so there’s no bias involved!

Table 1: Low Fat Hot Puddings Compared

Product	Tesco Healthy Living Chocolate Sponge Pudding	Waitrose Perfectly Balanced Lemon Pudding	Waitrose Perfectly Balanced Chocolate Pudding
Ranking	1	2	3
Taste/Texture	Very tempting and appetising looks and smells. Quite high in calories and among the highest in fat and maybe not as good as we were hoping but this was still the one the team wanted to spend the most time with.	Great for fans of lemon and still a good choice for those who don't. A good textured sponge and sharp refreshing lemony taste. A real character.	Less chocolatey than the Healthy Living pudding but with less calories and fat it can be excused for not being quite as much fun.
Calorie Content per Serving	196 (per pudding)	248 (per pudding)	182 (per pudding)

Table 2: More Low Fat Hot Puddings Compared

Product	Sainsbury's BGTY Summerfruit Pudding	Asda Less Than 5% Fat St Clements Sponge Pudding	Tesco Healthy Living Raspberry Sponge Pudding
Ranking	4	5	6
Taste/Texture	Fluffy and dry sponge, weak and watery sauce. The only one in the test that failed to hold itself together without the pot. The tasters may have been more tolerant due the very low fat content.	A big party animal attacking your senses, bright colour, strong smell, thick sauce, very sweet flavour: not to everyone's taste.	Dry, rubbery, bread-like textured sponge. Only allowed to hang around at this level for the nice raspberry topping and serious lack of calories and fat.
Calorie Content per Serving	161 (per pudding)	319 (per pudding)	176 (per pudding)

Table 3: More Low Fat Hot Puddings Compared

Product	Asda Less Than 5% Fat Fruits of the Forest Sponge Pudding	Sainsbury's BGTY Chocolate Pudding	Asda Less Than 5% Fat Chocolate Sponge Pudding
Ranking	7	8	9
Taste/Texture	Takes up the most of your calorie and fat allowance yet brings little in return. Good looks but a let down on taste; particularly the sponge.	Seemed to have been got ready in a hurry. Sloppy looks and a thin watery sauce. Appears to have overdone the chocolatey fragrance to disguise an "odd taste" "like bananas?"	Good looks let down by it's taste personality. A stodgy sponge masquerading as chocolate but really it's just full of sweeteners.
Calorie Content per Serving	320 (per pudding)	161 (per pudding)	314 (per pudding)

Table 4: More Low Fat Hot Puddings Compared

Product	Sainsbury's BGTY Apple & Sultana Steamed Pudding	Tesco Healthy Living Apple Sponge Pudding with Mixed Berry Sauce
Ranking	10	11
Taste/Texture	Takes up the most of your calorie and fat allowance yet brings little in return. Good looks but a let down on taste; particularly the sponge.	Seemed to have been got ready in a hurry. Sloppy looks and a thin watery sauce. Appears to have overdone the chocolatey fragrance to disguise an "odd taste" "like bananas?"
Calorie Content per Serving	320 (per pudding)	161 (per pudding)

There was no surprise that the most chocolatey dessert - Tesco Healthy Living - turned out to be Mr Popular with our taste team. The Waitrose low fat chocolate pudding is less exciting but treats you more nicely. For a fruity alternative try Waitrose's lemon or Sainsbury's summer fruits puddings, and they wont spoil your new year's resolutions.