By Chef AJ
Ever since I can remember, I’ve had a love affair with desserts.
When I was 7 years old, I received the best Hannukah present ever: an Easy-Bake Oven. It was a toy created for kids who loved to bake. But I had no idea this would be the start of my career.
All I had to do was open the little packets of cake mix that came with the oven, add water, put the mix in the oven, and turn on that magical machine. Thanks to the two 100-watt light bulbs inside the oven, I was mesmerized watching the cake rise.
My brothers had chemistry sets, but for me, baking was the only chemistry I needed. That was over 50 years ago, and I haven’t stopped baking since.
Obsessed With Sugar and Baking
The only thing I loved more than making desserts was eating desserts. I had a sweet tooth before I even had teeth.
Growing up, my breakfasts were Cocoa Puffs with chocolate milk, which was like starting my day with dessert.
I also loved when my mom would bake her famous chocolate fudge cake. I remember I’d always eat the cake first and save my favorite part, the frosting, for last.
And I still recall the excitement I’d feel when the Good Humor Ice Cream truck would come by, and I’d get to pick my favorite ice cream bars. Yes, bars — plural. My favorite was the chocolate éclair.
As a child, instead of reading Dick and Jane books, I devoured cookbooks, especially my favorite, Betty Crocker’s Cookbook for Boys and Girls. My favorite recipe to make was the Ting-A-Lings, which were made from only two ingredients: semi-sweet chocolate chips and Wheaties Cereal. All you had to do was melt the chips, stir in the Wheaties, scoop them out in clusters, and freeze them on wax paper. That was the first recipe I ever made, and it became my Breakfast of Champions.
By the age of 10, I had read all 27 volumes of the Time-Life cookbook anthology Foods of the World. And at the age of 11, I gave my first formal dinner party, using recipes from those books. My dessert for the dinner party was a Soufflé Au Chocolat. I was well on my way to culinary greatness!
Dessert is supposed to be the last course, but it always came first in my life. In fact, even as late as 2011, when my first book, Unprocessed, was published, I put the dessert recipes first, under the philosophy that “life is uncertain, eat dessert first.” I really used to think that way not so very long ago.
My Weight Loss Journey
I decided to follow up Unprocessed with a dessert cookbook that included recipes sweetened with fruit, the whole fruit, and nothing but the fruit. I became well-known for many of these recipes during my five-year stint as the Executive Vegan Pastry Chef at Santé restaurant in Los Angeles, where I began to develop a celebrity clientele.
And then something miraculous happened. After being overweight or obese for the first 50 years of my life, I lost 50 pounds. I have now kept it off for over 10 years. And to do that, I had to stop eating all the rich, decadent desserts I had become known for.
I always had a love-hate relationship with sugar and flour, which I document in my best-selling book, The Secrets to Ultimate Weight Loss. It wasn’t until 2012 that I learned that for some people (like me), refined carbohydrates such as sugar and flour can be addictive. And that other foods, often touted as having health benefits, such as nuts and chocolate, can also be problematic.
There are some people who just can’t moderate the use of high-fat, high-calorie, hyper-palatable “pleasure trap” foods, and, apparently, I am one of them.
Attempting to lose weight while being a pastry chef was like striving to get sober while working as a bartender. Even for those who don’t struggle with a food addiction, most traditional desserts have a high caloric density and, therefore, can make it difficult to attain and maintain an ideal weight. For many people (me included), they may be trigger foods that activate cravings for sweet and fatty food, making it difficult to stop eating after the first bite.
Once I lost the 50 pounds, my primary focus became helping others lose weight and manage their food addictions. I almost completely stopped creating dessert recipes since focusing on desserts was not an ideal way for me to maintain my weight loss. I set aside the idea of creating a dessert cookbook — at least for a while.
Creating a Healthy Dessert Cookbook
Still, over the years, many of my fans have requested a cookbook with all of my dessert recipes readily available in one place. That’s what my new cookbook, Sweet Indulgence, is: the ultimate collection of all my dessert recipes.
Many of the healthy and delicious recipes are brand new and previously unpublished. While others can be found in my earlier books, many of those have been updated and improved. Each recipe is now brought to life by the exquisite photography of Hannah Kaminsky. Knowing that most people would not completely desert dessert, I wanted to create treats that were as healthful as possible — and made from whole plant foods.
Some of the desserts in this cookbook mimic rich desserts that you’ll find in conventional restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores. But my rich desserts are far better for you because they’re made with unprocessed ingredients and sweetened with fruit only.
Other desserts in this cookbook are not as rich; they are low-fat, healthy treats.
In my experience, there’s a big difference between traditional desserts made from sugar, flour, and oil and the desserts you’ll find in Sweet Indulgence.
When I used to eat chocolate cake, I couldn’t stop myself. I could practically eat the whole cake in one sitting! But when I enjoy a dessert made from whole foods, like my Jam Bars, I have no problem stopping after just one serving.
There’s something about eating healthy, whole foods containing actual fiber and nutrients that can help you limit yourself to a reasonably sized portion. I hope you will agree that this is the ultimate healthy dessert collection.
Resetting Your Tastebuds
Just to be clear, if you’re used to eating Krispy Kreme donuts or other unhealthy treats laden with sugar, fat, and salt, the “subtly sweet” treats in this cookbook may not seem sweet to you at all. For those who may be addicted to sugar and accustomed to consuming, as the average American does, 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day — more than 60 pounds of added sugar per year — it will take some neuroadaptation to learn to appreciate a moderate and healthier degree of sweetness.
If you are currently consuming sugar at the rate of the average American, you will find that only a week or two of reduced sugar consumption, or complete abstinence from sugar, will enable you to reset your taste buds in this health-promoting way. And then you may find a Snickers bar to be sickly sweet.
When I used to indulge in traditional desserts, even vegan desserts made of sugar and flour, I found it exceedingly difficult to stop eating them. But after I learned to make desserts from dates and other whole foods like nuts instead of flour, I was amazed that I felt completely satisfied with even a small serving. While these foods did not help me lose weight, they did help me overcome my addiction to sugar and flour.
Treating Treats as Treats
If you are struggling to lose weight and/or struggling with an addiction to sweets, perhaps it would be a good idea for you to read The Secrets to Ultimate Weight Loss before you consider making any of the recipes in my new cookbook.
That said, if you are going to succumb to a rich dessert, I still believe it’s healthier to enjoy any of the recipes in Sweet Indulgence rather than one made from sugar, flour, oil, and animal products. If, on the other hand, you are the kind of person who can, in the words of Michael Pollan, “treat treats as treats,” these recipes can help you satisfy your sweet tooth while nourishing, instead of harming, your body.
All of the over 150 recipes in Sweet Indulgence are not only gluten-free and vegan but also free of oil and salt. The majority of them are also low in fat. Many are suitable for someone following the dietary guidelines of Dr. John McDougall or Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr, too.
Enjoy Low-Fat Desserts?
I know that the question on many people’s minds is: Does Chef AJ still indulge in the desserts in this book? So here’s the answer: it depends.
The desserts made with chocolate I haven’t eaten since 2010, when I found out that chocolate was the cause of my debilitating migraines. Because I am allergic to soy, sadly, I’m also unable to eat the recipes with tofu. However, any of the low-fat desserts, which are the majority of the recipes in this cookbook, are not a problem for me.
Although I did not eat any dessert other than pure fruit while I was losing weight, now that I’ve successfully maintained my weight loss for over 10 years, I am able to enjoy all of the lower-fat desserts, even daily if I choose, without overeating.
Some of my favorites are the Apple Pie That Won’t Make You Die, the Rustic Fruit Tart, and the Ultimate Pumpkin Pie. For me, it’s the combination of high-fat foods like chocolate, nuts, seeds, and avocado, in conjunction with dates, that is problematic. (Fat and sugar almost never appear together in nature.)
For many years, I ran the Ultimate Weight Loss Program. When a participant relapsed (we lovingly called it “a snacksident”), it was not usually because they had a slice of turkey on Thanksgiving. The trouble usually began with a rich Thanksgiving dessert made from sugar, flour, and oil that sent them spiraling down the “pleasure trap” they could not easily escape.
If you are going to cave to the crave, I would much rather see you eat a dessert made from real, whole foods with actual nutrients. I also believe these desserts are a much healthier option for your family, who won’t ever suspect the recipes are vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free!
Choosing Nutritious Desserts
In Sweet Indulgence, you will be guided with information about the degree of sweetness and the fat content of each recipe. I have labeled each recipe as either “rich and decadent,” “semi-decadent,” or “low-fat.” Similarly, I let you know the intensity of the sweetness with a graphic featuring strawberries: one strawberry indicates that the recipe is subtly sweet; two strawberries mean it’s nice and sweet; and three strawberries announce that it’s superbly sweet.
When choosing to make healthy eating a priority, no deprivation is required. Just make sure that you also eat your greens!
Love & Kale,
Chef AJ
Recipes from Sweet Indulgence
Below, you’ll find three whole food, plant-based desserts from Chef AJ’s newest cookbook, Sweet Indulgence. Enjoy these classic sweet treats that will delight your taste buds and nourish your body. Dive into the decadent World Famous German Chocolate Cake, learn how simplicity meets luxury in the World’s Healthiest and Easiest Pecan Pie, and experience the effortless elegance of the Rustic Fruit Tart. Each dessert is crafted with love, using wholesome ingredients that make indulgence not just a treat but a celebration of health.
1. Chef AJ’s World Famous German Chocolate Cake
Did you know that German Chocolate Cake is not actually German? It was named after an American baker named Samuel German, who created a new type of dark, baking chocolate while working for Baker’s Chocolate Company. In his honor, it was called Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate.
More than 100 years later, a homemaker in Texas created a recipe that she called “German’s Chocolate Cake” because she used the baking chocolate from Baker’s Chocolate Company, named after Samuel. The Dallas Morning News published that recipe, and today, that cake is known as German Chocolate Cake.
This recipe was created at the request of the Coronary Health Improvement Program founder, Dr. Hans Diehl, and I am so thankful he suggested it because it was the best-selling cake at the restaurant where I worked. I once made 30 of them for a Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine event, and they barely fit in my car.
2. The World’s Healthiest and Easiest Pecan Pie
Traditional Pecan Pie is made from eggs, flour, corn syrup, sugar, butter, and, oh yeah, maybe a few pecans. Mine has only three ingredients: dates, pecans, and vanilla bean powder, and you’ll find that the pie is every bit as decadent and delicious.
3. Rustic Fruit Tart
This delicious and guilt-free dessert takes less than 10 minutes to make and will wow your company. Strawberry is my favorite, but this tart works well with just about any fruit.
Tell us in the comments:
- Do you struggle with “pleasure trap” foods?
Featured Image: iStock.com/mixetto
