How Fruit Sweet It Is

Trying to kick the sugar habit? Janice Feuer did it and she wrote a cookbook about it-Fruit Sweet and Sugar Free: Prize-winning Pies, Cakes, Pastries, Muffins from the Ranch Kitchen Bakery, published by Healing Arts Press of Vermont. In it there are recipes for practically everything for the sweet tooth, from apple pie to cream puffs. It's put together in an easy-to-follow format and, although there are few photographs of the finished products (which I find very helpful in a cookbook), most recipes feature hand-drawn illustrations of baking techniques and hints such as how to flute a pie crust or the proper way to fill and use a pastry bag. In addition, symbols designating recipes as dairy, wheat, or egg-free make for easy at-a-glance selections. (A note to vegans--with the exception of some of the pies, most recipes contain either dairy, eggs, or both, and the "no eggs" symbol occasionally means "no egg yolks." However, some notable vegan selections-Toasted Almond Torte, Sesame-Raisin Cookies, Apple Custard Pie-might just be worth the cover price alone.)

As the title implies, fruit sweetener is this cookbook's star ingredient. We have two fruit sweeteners available at the Wedge: Fruitsource, which comes in both powdered and liquid forms, and Wax Orchard syrup. Fruit sweetener is made from fruit that has been pressed into juice and reduced by heating until its consistency is similar to that of honey. Another option, and less expensive, is fruit juice concentrate, available in the frozen juice section. Some of Feuer's recipes call for plain old apple juice as the main sweetener. The rule of thumb for using fruit sweeteners is this: recipes that call for sugar need only half the amount of a reduced fruit sweetener. No other adjustments need to be made in other wet or dry ingredients, but there are a few changes to be made in technique, e.g. creaming butter (or margarine) with fruit sweetener is slightly different. Feuer explains all these facts well in her introduction and in the recipes themselves.

Especially helpful are the "baker's tips" in highlighted boxes throughout the book. They feature little-known facts about ingredients and hints for preparation that the novice (and sometimes intermediate) cook might not be familiar with.

I would recommend this cookbook to anyone who wishes to cut down (or eliminate) white sugar consumption, but still craves a sweet-flavored goodie now and then.

Here's that sesame-raisin cookie recipe I mentioned earlier. It contains no dairy, eggs, or wheat, and uses apple juice as its sweetener. These cookies are giant but can be made smaller with an adjustment to scoop size and time in the oven.

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/8 cup unsweetened apple juice
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring 3/4 cup water to a boil and add the raisins. When the water returns to a boil, turn off the heat. Let the raisins plump in the water for at least 10 minutes. Drain the raisins and chop coarsely. Toast the sesame seeds by stirring them with a wooden spoon in a heavy saute pan over medium heat, until the seeds begin to crackle and smell toasted, about 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with baking paper (if you have it, otherwise, lightly oil). Combine the dry ingredients and stir in the sesame seeds until well distributed.

In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients and the raisins into the dry ingredients, mixing until blended.

Use a #12 scoop (or a 1/2 cup measure) for each cookie. Place the balls 1 inch apart on the prepared baking pans. With lightly moistened fingertips flatten each cookie to a thickness of 1/2 inch.

Bake until golden brown, approximately 25 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the pans before removing.

Yield: 8 giant cookies.