recipes

I tend to make desserts that are less sweet and whole-wheat when possible. If you’d rather see pictures, please refer to the visual recipe index!

SWEET: breakfast & tea – cake – choux – cookies – frozen – pastry – squares & bars – tarts & pies – yeasted – other things

SAVOURY: baked – not baked

lower sugar & lower sweetness desserts

SWEET

breakfast & tea

breakfasty things

muffins & loaves

scones & biscuits

cakes

big cakes

cheesecakes

layer cakes

loaf cakes

madeleines, financiers & friands

mousse cakes

roll cakes

small cakes

choux

cookies & such

More cookie recipes can be found in the holiday cookie boxes, but I’ve highlighted some of my favourites below.

chewy & soft cookies

crumbly & crisp cookies

frozen

pastry

squares & bars

tarts & pies

larger tarts & pies

small tarts & pies

yeasted

breads

buns

other things

SAVOURY

baked

breads

pastry

tarts

other things

not really baked

lower sugar and lower sweetness desserts

Trying to make desserts with no more sweetness and/or sugar than needed is generally something I am always aiming for, but here I highlight some of the recipes where I go about this in what I think are particularly clever ways. (I hope you come with low expectations of me)

whipped cream & chiffon layer cakes – This is one of my favourite cake formulas to use. It makes for a fluffy and light cake, and one that stores well in the fridge without becoming too hard or stale. For a classic retro take see this black forest cake. Other takes include this strawberry and browned butter cream cake. For a different, more casual format, all the roll cakes are similarly chiffon + whipped cream and lower sugar!

buttercream layer cakes  – I’m not much of a buttercream person and there are definitely better people to consult than me on matters of these sorts of cakes. But these sorts of cakes can be lower in sugar and sweetness too! I love using an ermine frosting or a cooked flour buttercream where the sugar doesn’t play such an important structural role. This roasted rhubarb & strawberry layer cake recipe has other tips for building a more balanced and less sweet buttercream layer cake. (Other ermine frosting examples can be found in this blueberry layer cake, and this coconut, matcha & strawberry cake).

glazed lemon loaf – My favourite loaf cake ever, or perhaps my favourite cake ever, is the week-end citron, a glazed lemon loaf. It’s still fairly sugary compared to other dessert options, but I’ve worked on the recipe such that despite being  covered in a sugar glaze, the cake overall isn’t too sweet… though it’s still kind of sweet.

ice creams – Almost all of the ice cream recipes on the blog are lower sugar. Less sugar in ice cream tastes wonderful – the tradeoff is in the texture as these ice creams tend to be harder. I use various methods to try to keep ice creams softer and scoopable right from the freezer, and the most foolproof is to add a bit of alcohol, whether a bit of unobtrusive vodka or a liqueur that complements your flavours – such as this roasted cherry, rosewater and amaretto ice cream.

granola & granola bars – This pistachio, coconut & apricot granola is my base recipe for a granola with just enough sweetener added to hold clumps. As for granola bars, the best lower sugar solution I’ve come up with has been these salted dark chocolate & almond nut bars.

pavlova – Pavlova is mostly sugar – and for the proper texture, there is (I’ve really tried!) little way around that. This toasted sugar pavlova outlines some other strategies for cutting down (slightly) on the sweetness. 

pecan squares – Typically the realm of sugary goo, I’ve worked on a lower sugar pecan square recipe which is more solid pecan and chewy sugary glaze to hold it all together.

sticky toffee pudding – Sticky toffee pudding is renowned for being sweet (and wonderfully so). Here I’ve made something a bit different, having adjusted my version, a prune and rum sticky toffee pudding, to have a tempered flavour profile and cut down on the sugar as well.

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