New concept of desserts with no added sugar

Abstract

Desserts are known in many cultures of the world as courses that typically come at the end of a meal. They usually consist of sweet and creamy food and, consequently, high in sugar and fat. The aim of this work was to take advantage of the natural sweetness of fruit and to enhance it with different techniques in order to break with the idea that finishing a pleasant meal involves sugary foods. The techniques used to enhance product sensory attributes were vacuum cooking, hot infusion, filtration, vacuum impregnation, smoking, gelling, aerating and freezing. As a result, a novel culinary concept for creating desserts without the addition of fat and sugar has been developed. Pear, grapefruit and figs are some examples of products from the vegetable kingdom that with the right combination of aromas and textures could be the key ingredients for the elaboration of natural and healthy desserts.