Think "raw desserts". What pops into your mind? Healthy? Crunchy? Soggy? A sad alternative for someone on a diet? Raw desserts make the healthiest desserts on the planet, but they also make skeptics. Can desserts made without flours, fillers, sugar, or dairy products truly satisfy?

Sweet fruits are one of the top ingredients in raw desserts. Fresh and dried fruits are bursting with sucrose, glucose and fructose (nature's natural sugars) and many have just as much sweetness as refined tables sugar. Dates, for example, are a common ingredient for raw dessert crusts and fillings, and have a 75-85 percent sugar content.

Now I don't normally advocate sugar, but we're talking about desserts here, and fact is that desserts are sweet. There is a difference between using whole fruits instead of table sugar, though -- it's in the fiber. For those who have experimented with the Atkin's diet, you'll remember that deductions in carbohydrate (sugar) intake can be made with the addition of fiber. Fiber, as well as protein and good fats, slows down the rate at which the sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream. Since raw desserts are made mostly of high-fiber fruits and an array of nuts with high-quality fats and protein, they satisfy sugar cravings yet won't spike sugar levels as high as desserts made from table sugar and refined flours.

Heavenly Desserts and video continued at bottom...

Cherries

Is there anyone who doesn't know it's cherry season? Walking into the farmers' market last weekend, I saw a herd of people crowding around one small booth. "What are they selling?" As I approached, I saw the pretty white bags brimming over with bright, little, red fruits.

Since cherries are too fragile and perishable to import, they are one of the few fruits that are truly "seasonal". The growing season for cherries is a short one as well - they're only really good from June through late July. This makes cherries an awfully nostalgic summertime fruit, and enthusiasm is always high.

On a nutritional level, cherries, especially the sour varieties, are alkalizing in nature are known to reduce acids in the body. They have significant levels of vitamin C and the B vitamins, as well as minerals to help us get through these hot summer days. Their bright red color indicates that they are exploding with beta-carotene, which turns to vitamin A in the body.

Spinach and Smoked Turkey Salad with Fresh Cherries Any summer salad can be spruced up with fresh, seasonal fruits... Get Recipe

Cherry Coconut Clafouti This puffy, custardy dessert originated in the French country side. Its texture is part custard, part souffle... Get Recipe

You'll find only a few varieties of cherries available at the markets: Bings and lamberts have the dark, mohogany skins -- bings are the big ones, lamberts are the small, heart-shaped ones. Both have a sweet, rich flavor and make them the most popular at the markets. But don't pass over the rainiers; they're my favorite. Rainiers have a marbled skin that consumers pass on as unripe. They have a delicate, sweet flavor and may be perfect for kids or adults who turn their noses up at the overpowering cherry-ness of the other varieties.

Cherry trees are high on the list for sprayed fruits. Buy organic if you can.

Article References:
The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, Rebecca Wood
Prescription for Dietary Wellness, Phyllis A. Balch

Summer Snackin' Made Good!

The solstice has once again brought warmer weather, fresh energy and the urge to gather outdoors with friends. 'Tis the season for barbeques, or "cook-outs" as they say here in Maine.

Usually, the first thing my kids do after greeting their friends is run to the nearest table of chips. Shortly, they tell me they are too full to eat anything else, and the next day we are blessed with the blood sugar blues.

Making an effort to replace some party standbys can help. Try these fun finger foods at your next gathering. Then when they say they're full, you'll at least know that they got in some good stuff!

Good ol' Ants on a Log - Since peanuts are known to contain molds and go rancid easily, almond butter is the spread of choice these days -- and kids love it! Assembly: Fill some organic celery sticks with almond butter and arrange on a platter. Have a bowl of raisins (the ants) in the middle of the platter and let the kids go antsy!

Nori Squares - If they try 'em, they'll love 'em! Nori is the seaweed used to make sushi. You can find it neatly packaged in the Asian section of your local natural foods store. Assembly: Spread a thin layer of cream cheese evenly over a sheet of nori. Layer some thinly-sliced cucumber sticks, carrot sticks or avocado on the cream cheese and then roll the nori into a stick (it will be flatter than a sushi roll). Press it flat and then use a sharp knife to cut the roll into 2-inch pieces.

Green Sticks 'n' Hummus - My daughter will only eat the stems of broccoli -- I'll take it! Although not as packed as the flower, broccoli stems still have their share of nutrients. Assembly: Cut the flowers from the stems and slice away the tough skin from the stem. Slice the stem into thin strips. Have some hummus (packed with good fats and protein for growing bodies, by the way) in a bowl alongside the stems for dipping. Make the hummus yourself without too much garlic, or try Yorgos brand original.

Ingredients for Raw Desserts

Fresh, organic ingredients give raw desserts their natural sweetness and delightful textures. Here's the top three foods that make up raw desserts:

Nuts and Seeds - Raw chefs always have a food processor at easy reach for chopping, grinding or pureeing nuts and seeds for a variety of uses. Course-chopped nuts can be used as a base for crunchy-textured crusts; ground nuts are used for finer crusts as well as a base for cookie and cake dough; and those with a higher fat content, like cashews, pine nuts, macadamias, coconuts and Brazil nuts, can be pureed into creamy mousses, whips and parfaits.

Fresh and Dried Fruits - Summer's bounty of fresh colorful fruits make it the ideal time for raw desserts. Just as in baked desserts, fresh fruits are used as a filling for tarts and pies, and can be pureed to make dessert sauces to top custards and cakes. Dried fruits can also be used. Most are soaked and then pureed to sweeten fillings and crusts.

Sweeteners - Strict raw-foodists only sweeten with the simplest of sweet ingredients: whole fruits. The less dogmatic approach is to add mildly refined sweeteners in small amounts. These include: raw unfiltered honey, raw agave nectar, stevia, date sugar and even maple syrup. Most raw desserts incorporate dates into crusts and fillings; in most cases, their naturally high sugar content makes them more than adequate.

Chocolate Mon Cherie Tart Chocolate mousse meets black forest - call it love!... Get Recipe

Pineapple Right-Side-Up Cake Who needs it upside down when you can have it right side up?... Get Recipe

Raw Dessert Instructional Video:
Chocolate Mon Cherie Tart

Extra:
How to Soak Nuts and Seeds for Optimal Nutrition

What Makes a "Raw" Food Raw?

A raw food is exactly that -- it hasn't been cooked. This means that all the delicate vitamins, phyto-nutrients and enzymes originally present in the food have not been cooked out, damaged or destroyed. Since these highly nutritional aspects of the whole food are left intact, raw desserts are actually good for us. You can't say that about baked desserts, which are filled with sugar, flours and dairy products.

Generally, raw food is considered raw if it hasn't been heated above 105-120 degrees. If a raw food has been left in its original state, or even if it has been dehydrated between 105-120 degrees, the enzymes and vitamins have not been destroyed and the food will remain truly raw.

Getting Started

Many of my raw dessert recipes require little more than a food processor and a pan, but a few other basic kitchen tools can make it easier and just more fun. If you are starting to experiment with raw foods in general, you'll definitely want to consider the last two.

Springform Pan - Another word for a cheesecake pan. This pan has a removable side and allows cakes to hold their shape after they've been setting up in the fridge. Springform pans come in many sizes, from a single-serving to a 12-inch round, square or rectangle.

Tart Pan - A tart pan makes a short crust for a single layer of fruit to lie attractively on the bottom. Like springform pans, they also have a removable side to keep the filling from dumping while removing the tart. They come in single-serving sizes to a 12-inch round, square or rectangle.

Pie Plate - Whether it was handed down from mom or purchased, most home-cooks have at least one pie plate laying around the kitchen. A pie plate is good for thick crusts that hold deep, chunky fillings.

Dehydrator - A dehydrator adds chewiness and crunchiness to certain desserts that might be left soft and soggy without some kind of drying technique. If a dehydrator is set within 105-120 degrees, it will take the water out of the food without cooking it. As long as the heat stays low, a raw food will remain truly raw even if left in the dehydrator for 12-plus hours. I recommend the Excalibur Dehydrator - it allows you to adjust the temperature. I found mine new on eBay for $200.

Food Processor or High-Speed Blender - Although a food processor is all one really needs for raw desserts, many raw foodists enjoy the luxury of a higher powered blender to really cream and smooth pureed foods. Its fast blending acting can puree leafy greens into smoothies in just 30 seconds! I recommend the Vita-Mix Blender; it's pricey, but worth it. Find it new on ebay for $280.

Now all you need are the healthy ingredients to create your raw works of culinary art! 'Tis the season for a variety of fresh, ripe fruits at the organic farmers' market. You can purchase nuts and seeds at your local natural foods store. The best choices are organic, vacuum-packed nuts that have been processed and transported in lower temperatures. These are becoming more accessible at natural foods markets and on the internet.

So don't knock it 'til you try it. People new to raw foods always proclaim how neat it is to "cook" raw in the kitchen. "It's so alive!", they say. Once you try it, you'll be a believer too!

Alison Anton - Alison is a nutritional chef, food writer and cooking instructor through Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts and The Whole Foods Market Cooking School. Alison's food blog articles have been published online at USAToday, Reuters, iVillage and more. Check it out! wholegourmet.com/blog

Meg Harpool - Meg has worked in the childcare and education field for over 20 years. She runs a preschool in Yarmouth, Maine that fosters children's own organic wisdom and peaceful communication skills. She has two girls (age 7 and 3) who both enjoy natural foods, art, music and nature. Visit Meg's web site at: riverschoolhouse.com

This month's Food Trivia answer: An egg