Looking for a refreshing summer dessert? You might want to try this week's recipe for Key Lime Cake. Lemon cake mix is combined with a cup of vegetable oil, a box of instant lemon pudding mix and a little Key lime juice. The cake is baked in a 9-by-13-inch pan and glazed with a mixture of powdered sugar and more lime juice. It's easy to make and has a wonderful citrus flavor. Each serving contains 24 grams of fat.

We made only one change in this recipe, but it produced a drastic reduction in fat. We reduced the vegetable oil from 1 cup to 2 tablespoons and added 1/2 cup strained baby food pears. This worked like a charm.

Our testers had a hard time determining which was the rehab because the two cakes looked and tasted so much the same. They actually preferred our lower fat version because they felt the texture of the original was almost too wet.

With only 8.5 grams of fat per serving, this is one of the easiest cakes you'll make. Topped with a dollop of fat-free whipped topping and twist of lime, it's the perfect ending to any summer meal.

Tip of the week: Key lime juice is yellow and the flavor is more tart than that of the common Persian lime. Although Key lime juice is preferred in this recipe, either variety will produce a tasty cake.

We used a bottled brand, Nellie & Joe's Famous Key West Lime Juice, which is available in many groceries.

And fresh Key limes are now available in season at many Greater Cincinnati stores.

Key Lime Cake

CAKE

1 box (18.25 ounces) lemon cake mix

1 small box (3.4 ounces) lemon instant pudding mix

1 cup water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 jar (4.5 ounces) strained baby food pears

2 tablespoons Key lime juice

GLAZE

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/3 cup Key lime juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray 9-by-13-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray. In large mixing bowl, beat eggs slightly. Add water, oil, pears, 2 tablespoons lime juice, cake mix and pudding mix; beat with electric mixer for 4 minutes. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until tests done. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes.

In small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar and 1/3 cup lime juice. Leave cake in baking pan. Prick top of cake with fork; pour glaze over cake. Let cake stand until cool. Makes 12 to 14 servings.

Before and after

Based on 1 serving ( 1/13 of recipe)

Key Lime Cake		Adapted
Calories	450	317
Fat	24g	8.5g
Carbohydrate	57g	57g
Sodium	409mg	403mg
Fiber	1 g	1 g
Cholesterol	76mg	76mg
Calories from fat
	47%	24%

Nutritionists recommend those on daily 2,000 calorie diet limit their fat consumption to 65 g or less, cholesterol to 300 mg or less and sodium to 2,400 mg or less per day.

Pat Streicher and Ellen Illig are registered dieticians at Jewish Hospital's Cholesterol Center. To have your recipes rehabbed, send them to: Recipe Rehab, The Jewish Hospital Cholesterol Center, 3200 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati 45229.