Sweet and Sugar Free: An All Natural Fruit-Sweetened Dessert Cookbook

Okay. Granted. If you eat a cupcake from the supermarket with that blue icing made from crisco and one pound of confectioner's sugar and then you eat something from this book it'll probably taste like cardboard. BUT THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! The point is that we've trained ourselves to like the taste of such overly sugar-filled desserts that we're all becoming diabetic! I just made the Orange Cranberry Muffins and they are delicious! They are soft and moist and have a nice orange flavor with the tartness of the cranberries. Now, yes, they aren't sweet as I'm used to eating "sweet" things, but they're refreshingly yummy and healthful, especially since I replaced the white flour with whole wheat (adding 4 tablespoons of milk). PLUS, she gives you recipes for tons of jams, spreads, toppings, custards, puddings that you can make and serve with the muffins for breakfast. And it's all refined sugar free and no artificial sweetners, just natural fruit. So if the muffin is too un-sweet for you or if you're just getting used to the taste, make some of her delicious jams and have a muffin with jam for breakfast! When she says sweet she doesn't mean sugar sweet she means the natural flavor of fruit sweet. And I think we should all wean ourselves off that overly-sweet flavor and learn to appreciate nature's sweetness. Buy this, experiment with it, and slowly get used to the flavor of all natural sweetness. The only criticism that I would make is that the recipes have very large yields. That's okay for the cakes and muffins because I just freeze whatever I don't want at that moment but that's not possible to do with the pies and cookies so keep that in mind. The muffin recipe using applesauce is especially delicious actually quite sweet considering it has no added sugar. I made the pineapple carrot cake and the "natural" flavor was very intense. I think it would be better if some raisins were added to the batter to add a little burst of sweetness in every few bites.

The New England Apple pie alone makes this book a must for diabetics and anyone wishing to cut sucrose out of their diet! I have served these desserts to many different people and noone notices the lack of sugar or a "funny" aftertaste. Everyone raves about the great sweet fruit taste and the textures are normal. A must have!

Sugar-free desserts (no refined sugars, honey, molasses, or artificial sugar substitutes)---sweetened with fruit and fruit juices. Cakes, cookies, pies, custards and much more! If you've been desiring a way to ease your "sugar-addicted" family into a healthier eating pattern, Karen Barkie's book could be just what you've been looking for! ~Debi