Whenever I meet up with friends at a café, they tuck into one of the delicious looking sweet treats with their coffee and I envy them their feast. As a person who cannot digest more than 5gms of sugar I sympathise with all the coeliacs, gluten and dairy intolerant folks and those with type 1 or 2 diabetics. Then throw in those with food choices such as paleo, keto and food allergies, and our choices are very limited.
In some countries these food differences are widely catered for, not so in Australia.
Personally, I find it difficult for others to buy sweet treats for us on birthdays and special occasions. They might buy a cake for others, but for us they don’t know what to get and often resort to something savoury. Let’s face it that really is no substitute for a sweet piece of cake, pie or slice.
At a café with a friend recently, I asked if they sold any sugar free sweeter products. They directed me to a nut bar that had “no added sugar” on the wrapper. Upon checking the nutrition label it showed that the nut bar contained 24 grams of sugar, more than a slice of cake with cream on top would contain. A lot of products available state “no added sugar” and then use agave, rice malt syrup, honey etc. These products contain sugar, when what they mean is that they add no processed sugar.
Imagine Tom Cruise jumping up and down on the couch during the Oprah show. That is how I felt when I discovered The Sugarless Bakery in Perth. They hand make fresh and boutique deserts that are 100% gluten, sugar and dairy free and 90% of their products are ketogenic. They are low fructose, many are paleo, vegan and low carb.
So, the big question is… do they taste good? YES! YES! Oh my yes! I have tried several of their products and they are delicious. For my birthday recently, their choc mint slice was my delicious birthday treat.
Their range of products is a joyful menu to choose from. The Sugarless Bakery use xylitol as its sweetener, as do I in my cooking at home. Xylitol looks and tastes like sugar but has fewer calories and doesn’t raise blood sugar levels. 1 gram of sugar has 4 calories as opposed to 1 gram of Xylitol containing 2.4 calories. It is used in sugar free chewing gum and toothpaste to make them sweet.
Xylitol is found in small amounts in many fruits and vegetables. The white crystalline power that you use in cooking is natural and can come from a birch tree or corn cobs. (It should be noted that dogs are unable to metabolise xylitol.)
The Sugarless Bakery was started by sisters Emily and Eleasha five years ago.
Emily comes from a hospitality background and experimented with sugarless recipes for themselves at home. Soon people were asking for their products and the business boomed from there. Originally stocked by three grocers in Fremantle, there are now 65 outlets in Western Australia, from Geraldton to Albany. Whole cakes come direct from the factory at Cockburn Central. You can locate their stockists at: www.thesugarlessbakery.com.au/stockists/
With no preservatives, their produce has a 7 day shelf life, and can be frozen.
I met with Eleasha at their factory in Cockburn Central recently. Eleasha was as passionate about sugarless products as I am. After 2 attempts to quit sugar she said she is now addicted to feeling 100% better.
“When you are sugar free, your taste buds become more developed and food tastes better”, she said. “Food has changed, especially with GMO products. Most people don’t know what is in their food or where it comes from. My mission is to educate people that sugar and gluten free can still taste great.”
As with everything in life, moderation is key. These delicious and delectable treats are calorie dense due to their fat content. Read the nutritional label on the product, or go their website where all their products nutritional information is listed. www.thesugarlessbakery.com.au/nutritional-information/
If you live in, or visit, Western Australia, do yourself (and your body) a favour by tasting a product from The Sugarless Bakery. You will love the change. An added bonus is that you will now know where to purchase a product for that person in your environment who has had to put up with savoury products on their special occasions. They will thank you too.
Happy Travels!
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