While I always want dessert to taste delicious, I also like to get rid of unnecessary kilojoules and saturated fat. Over time I've worked out strategies for slashing the kilojoules and improving the general goodness of the desserts I make.

One of my favourites is whipping together ricotta and natural yoghurt and using this instead of cream. For me desserts are rich and tasty enough without pouring cream over the top and I like the tang which comes from the ricotta and yoghurt combination.

The ratio of cream to yoghurt I use depends on what I'm doing with the mixture. Adding more yoghurt will make the "cream" more runny, while boosting up the ricotta tends to make it more thick.

I use this ricotta and yoghurt "cream" as an accompaniment, or to spread on top of desserts like mini trifles or cakes. Be aware it's not suitable for adding into recipes, as the different fat profile will change the way your dessert comes out.

While a bit of cream every now and then is lovely, it's quite high in saturated fat. In contrast, this combination of ricotta and yoghurt has a fifth of the saturated fat and more than half the kilojoules of normal cream.