1. Avoid cakes with cream, such as sponges. The extra fat content bumps up the calories considerably.

2. Madeira cake is a good choice. The plain cake is sweet yet has a quarter of the fat content of fancy iced cakes.

3. Don't kid yourself that carrot cake counts as your vegetable serving for the day - even un-iced carrot cake has a high energy and fat content.

4. Un-iced fruitcake is not only lower in total calories when compared to iced cakes, but it has a relatively low glycemic index (GI) value, so it will help to keep you feeling fuller.

5. A slice of plain chocolate cake can actually be lower in fat and calorie content than a chocolate brownie.

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