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Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: I bought this book thinking it would be a healthy and tasty way to cut down on sugar. After I got it and read through the Introduction and the recipes, I realized the author calls for the use of a concentrated fruit sweetener that is very hard to get. She buys her supply in 1,500 pound shipments from a fruit processing company in California. I don't think too many people have access to something like that without a lot of trouble and expense. The recipes looked delicious, though. There are a few that do call for frozen juice concentrates. I just wish I had found a cookbook that was made for real people instead of professional bakers.
Rating: 
Summary: What a fabulaous cook book!
Review: I have owned this cook book since 1994. The recipes are easy to follow with good instructions and illistrations. I really enjoy the Old Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and the American Beauty Apple Pie. You cannot tell that there is not refined sugar in them. I have taken many items to work and social occasions, with rave reviews. I gave up refined sugars in 1993 and I feel better and have more energy. This book made the transition easy. I would love to find a Volume 2 available.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book but you need to experiment with substitutions
Review: I too was disappointed in this cookbook. I bought it with the same assumption as the other disappointed woman who submitted a review of 2 stars. The fruit sweetner is is sold as a commercial made product only and not for the average consumer in mind. You can order it through a natural food store, but you have to purchase a case of 4 gallons at $35.00 per gallon. Obviously this is not something the average home can afford to buy nor store. She does offer the options of substituting fruit juice concentrates for the fruit sweetner, but she doesn't tell you which ones to use in place each recipe. Ex. Do you you use apple, white grape, orange or a combination of these for a particular recipe. Also she recommends to cook down the fruit juice concentrates before using them. This is time consumming and not beneficial to a family on the go. I would like for her to rewrite this book for the average consumer in mind.
Rating:
Summary: Good book but you need to experiment with substitutions
Review: I wanted a book that would give me ideas about how to cook without sugar - the proportions one would need of a liquid ( of any sort) that would replace dry sugar in a recipe. I have not used the sweetener the author uses but substitute what I can find - i.e. apple butter, fruit sweetner from Black River in Mississauga, Ont, Canada (comes in small 500 ml sizes for about $5.00 bottle)and the recipes have turned out very nicely. I would love to try her sweetener too but oh well..
This book was a good introduction to how to cook without sugar- if you like experimenting with anything sweet that is not straight sugar. You just need to be a little inventive and use her proportions!
Rating:
Summary: Culinary masterpiece!
Review: My wife and I keep this cookbook handy in the kitchen at all times, where it can be easily reached when we feel the desire to whip up a tantalizing and healthy dessert. After sampling these recipes, we could never go back to sugar! The Very-Berry syrup is a delight on waffles, pancakes, and French Toast, and the Cranberry Banana Walnut bread graces our table every Sunday morning.The author explains how to acquire commercially made fruit sweetener, or if one prefers alternative frozen fruit juice concentrates, there is an excellent explanation in Chapter 1, "The Fine Art of Baking", on how to prepare them. We found that chapter to be enlightening and inspirational, and it sets the tone for the entire book.
Rating:
Summary: Culinary masterpiece!
Review: This is a fantastic collection of delicious tasting cakes and pastries, prepared according to the level of a fine pastry chef. You can skip some of the finer points (like roasting the nuts before you use them and sifting the flour 3 times!) if you want to speed up the prep time and aren't so particular. THis is what I do. Recipes show a deep knowledge of natural ingredients and interesting combinations of ingredients that I would never have thought of myself. While some people complain that they cannot fine the fruit juice concentrate she uses, one can easily substitue any concentrated fruit juice, as she clearly explains in the brilliant introduction. I live in Israel and have had great success with the concentrates I can find here. Even die-hard sugar fans wouldn't guess that some of the cakes I have made are sugar free. A great cookbook!
Rating:
Summary: I brilliant cookbook!
Review: This is a fantastic collection of delicious tasting cakes and pastries, prepared according to the level of a fine pastry chef. You can skip some of the finer points (like roasting the nuts before you use them and sifting the flour 3 times!) if you want to speed up the prep time and aren't so particular. THis is what I do. Recipes show a deep knowledge of natural ingredients and interesting combinations of ingredients that I would never have thought of myself. While some people complain that they cannot fine the fruit juice concentrate she uses, one can easily substitue any concentrated fruit juice, as she clearly explains in the brilliant introduction. I live in Israel and have had great success with the concentrates I can find here. Even die-hard sugar fans wouldn't guess that some of the cakes I have made are sugar free. A great cookbook!
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