Low-sugar holiday desserts: can you eat your cake and have it too?

Low-Sugar Holiday Desserts

Can you eat your cake and have it too?

Why do we serve desserts? When we have just eaten an abundant holiday meal, why do we add a cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries, a circle of sliced kiwi, whipped cream, and toasted sliced almonds?

* Desserts may be used to display our skills. We expect compliments for the dessert and often spend an inordinate amount of time producing it, partly for that reason. How many times have you had guests say, "I couldn't wait to taste your pecan pie," or whatever your special dessert is? It becomes your trademark, and the pat on the back seems to make worthwhile the extra time and money you could not otherwise justify. (Unfortunately, guests seldom compliment us for the vegetables or salad, which are more likely to promote health.)

* Another reason for using desserts is to exhibit affluence, or to compliment the guest. For the dessert we often use our very nicest dishes and serving utensils, placing an already beautiful dessert in the most favorable setting.

* Desserts may also be used to satisfy the appetite. Foods high in sugar and fat content are well calculated to make people feel full, completely eliminating any little not-quite-satisfied feeling. After all, you do not want your guests to leave the table still hungry.

* Desserts are often expected by our family and guests, especially at holiday dinners and special events. They add to the festivities and are often used to honor a special person.

* They are often served because it seems the hospitable thing to do--and one of the reasons we invite guests is to demonstrate hospitality. We want to be kind and considerate and show people we care.

* We use desserts to signal the end of the meal. It's a way of telling our guests, "That's all, folks!" This signal is especially helpful if the meal is served in courses.

We may not consciously recognize all of the reasons we serve desserts. While some of these reasons may fall short of being honorable, others are perfectly good reasons. For example, we all need affirming, and we do things to solicit affirmation. A dessert may be such a solicitation or it may be an act of affirming someone else. Then why not find a way to accomplish that without recourse to sweet, rich desserts--and the pounds to be gained from eating these dainties? Why not plan a nourishing dessert instead of a fattening one?

One of the ways you can satisfy the need for desserts and still keep calories low is through the use of high-quality fresh fruits. Chefs at prestigious restaurants often serve fresh fruit desserts after an expensive meal. What looks nicer than a beautiful display of fresh fruit? Such desserts may be prepared either simply or with much skill and artistry.

If you use high-quality fresh fruit, flavorful and sweet, for your favorite fruit pie or cobbler, you will need only a little added sugar, or none at all. Often the more sugar added to fruit pies the less you can taste the subtle flavors of the fruit. The same thing results when too much spice is added. Surprise your guests with a fruit pie or cobbler flavored naturally with quality fresh fruits. You might also try a reduced-fat granola crust, or experiment by adding a little lecithin or other emulsifier to the piecrust you are making while cutting down on the fat or oil.

In making cookies, you can probably reduce the sugar and fat, unless it is a cakelike cookie. Remember, however, that a very low-fat, low-sugar product is a cracker, not a cookie.

Can you make a sugarless cake? Sugar plays an important role in developing the texture of most types of cakes. If no sugar were in the cake batter, the starch would gelatinize, causing the cake to "set" before the baking powder could properly work. About the only type of sugarless cake that can be made successfully is a foam product such as an angel food cake. In this the egg white is made into a meringue, trapping the air and giving the cake its fluffy texture.

You can lessen the amount of the sugar in baking powder-leavened cakes by one eighth to one fourth without making the texture too objectionable. Since pound cake requires a one-to-one ratio (by weight) of each ingredient, reducing the sugar would require adding a chemical leavening agent such as baking powder. In this case you would no longer have a pound cake. Sugar also plays a role in browning, so cakes and cookies with reduced sugar may not brown as readily.

A technique that works on some products that have reduced sugar is to increase vanilla, malt, butterscotch, anise, or fruit extract flavors. This ploy will often cover for the reduced sugar since the essence of these flavorings heightens the sensation of sweetness.

As you are preparing desserts and tasting for the right amount of sweetness, remember to taste the product at the temperature it will be served. Very hot or very cold temperatures suppress the taste perception of sweetness. Also, as you are perfecting your reduced-calorie dessert, you might add a little salt, tartness, or other seasoning to "round out" the flavor to make it more acceptable.

Substitution of other sweeteners such as honey, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, date sugar, glucose (dextrose), fructose, fruit juice concentrates, etc., probably will not solve the problem of high-sugar, low-nutrient products. In fact, the addition of any of these sweeteners greatly increases the browning reaction and may impart undesirable flavors and textures. It is true, however, that fruit juice concentrates do add increased flavor. Probably it is best to reeducate the palate to enjoy more nutritious desserts such as fruits.

You may have other ways of cutting down on sugar and sweets. Share them with your friends as I have shared these tips with you.

Review the reasons you serve desserts and then develop low-sugar, increased-nutrient desserts that satisfy those needs. By careful choice and planning you can avoid the extremes of indulgence on the one hand and restrictiveness on the other. Do take care not to ruin the holiday or special occasion with rigid decisions about desserts. Enjoy your family, guests, and the holiday season.

Kenneth I. Burke, Ph.D., R.D., is a professor in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics of Loma Linda University.