PUT CHOCOLATE ON YOUR MENU
If you love chocolate, this book is a musthave on your kitchen shelf. Not only does the author, Sarah Wilson, offer 100 chocolate recipes, but they all are sugar-free. One is saved from the guilt pangs, especially those who have to resist the temptation because they are off sugar. Chocolate for breakfast? Yes, the book has a section that offers breakfast options because the items are “protein-rich and packed with moodboosting cacao — just what you need to start your day right”.
There are also gluten-free, kid-friendly (nut-free) and vegan options to choose from.
Wilson has authored chocolate cookbooks earlier, too, but this is the first time that all the best recipes have been put together in a single book. However, the author warns against bingeing on the items even if they are sugar-free.
“While it is true that you don’t have to quit chocolate when you quit sugar, you have to eat it correctly. Which for starters means not all the time… we put a big focus on portion control. Our recipes serve a crowd and are divvied up into rather smaller slices, bites and balls.”
The book is peppered with numerous tips to make sure the finished item is on the healthier side, by handling the raw material correctly. “Chocolate should always be made with raw cacao, not cocoa. When making your own raw chocolate, use virgin cold- pressed varieties of coconut oil. Start with less sweetener and add more if needed. Eat chocolate straight after a main meal to avoid it becoming a snack food.”
There is important information telling readers if it is okay to eat the item daily; what should be eaten mindfully; or what should be had rarely.
An important line in the foreword clarifies that by sugar-free she means fructose-free, “because that’s the stuff we’re trying to avoid.” The book is divided in three segments—Before We Start (a sort of orientation guide), Recipes, and Bits at the Back.
In a step-by-step guide, Wilson shares how living sugar-free can be enriching, healthy and sweet. The book rightly lives up to its title.