Real Sweet: More Than 80 Crave-Worthy Treats Made with Natural Sugars – A Dessert Cookbook for Entertaining and Everyday Indulgence with Unrefined Sweeteners

by Shauna Sever

Real Sweet offers every dessert lover the delicious sweetness they crave in simple and delicious recipes using natural sugars that pack in subtly amazing flavors that elevate treats of every kind (and help us avoid overprocessed, one-dimensional white sugar). Here are simple lunchbox treats suitable for all ages; whimsical candies and confections created on the stovetop; bake sale classics like cookies and cakes; and fragrant, exotic spoonable puddings and flans. Cookbook author and blogger Shauna Sever helps you introduce healthy touches into treats using natural, unrefined, readily available alternative sweeteners—from coconut sugar, agave nectar, orange blossom honey, and pure maple syrup to smoky turbinado, brown-buttery panela, and jaggery. Written in Shauna’s fresh, modern, and charmingly funny style, Real Sweet lets every sweet tooth indulge without the guilt. Here are more than eighty sure-to-be-favorite recipes, Whether you’re entertaining, sharing a good meal with friends, contributing to the PTA, or looking for homemade holiday gifts, Real Sweet has the perfect treat for everyday and every occasion.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2015

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed and I liked the little lessons on each natural sugar. But the author contradicts herself often on the health benefits/cons of eating these recipes. She demonizes sugar and then turns around and says this other dish is more virtuous or “healthy” somehow.

Not every dish has a photo (likely because some are more photogenic than others, but still).

The index of recipes categorized by sugar type is helpful since they are spread throughout the book.

Nice library read; I don’t think I saved anything to make. I do own coconut sugar and have been using it occasionally for Minimalist Baker blog recipes, to great success.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting cookbook. It had wonderful sounding recipes, good tips, and beautiful pictures but I found nothing I wanted to make personally. Recipes sounded great but finding some of the ingredients might be hard.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great cookbook with ideas for sweets using alternatives to refined sugar.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

While none of the recipes spoke to me, I did really appreciate how she broke down the options for less refined sugars and their pros and tasting notes.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good volume for those looking to bake with alternative sweeteners, with some tempting recipes. Unfortunately, the flavor profiles were a little too chocolate-heavy for my liking.

[Laura]

a lot of good recipes if avoiding refined sugars and wanting sweet treats. not vegan or gluten free

[Tiffany T · Rating 4 out of 5]

The meringue bark and praline recipes looked phenomenal and oh so tempting. I appreciate the ideas on how to use a variety of sugar, syrups and sweeteners in new ways.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of recipes of supposedly less-bad-for-you sugars. I pulled a few recipes from it, but generally felt like many of these really were not healthier options… I’d consider turbinado sugar pretty close to an even exchange for refined white sugar. I am interested to try some recipes using ingredients like date paste.

[Bobbiann Markle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great cookbook! While most of the recipes call for whole wheat or unbleached flour, there are some that are gluten-free. I love how the author encourages experimenting with different sweeteners, unlike some cookbooks that require a specific, hard-to-find ingredient.

[False · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting ideas, but I just didn't see anything I craved to make. Still, I would recommend it for people looking for sweetening alternatives in baking.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plan to make waffles with piloncillo!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

everything is this book looks super yummy