WHAT’S dessert without sin? What’s a chocolate cake without an entire pack of sugar? Sweet treats should taste like early onset heart disease, surely?
Spoken like a true sugar fiend.
But now, during the apex of the clean-eating revolution - when kale and coconut oil became the solution to, well, everything - is it really that surprising that desserts are now getting a 'clean eating' makeover?
At Simone’s when they speak of healthy desserts they’re not talking about an unadventurous fruit salad
Simone’s healthy dessert bar has just arrived in Manchester Arndale Market’s food court with what looks like a Gwyneth Paltrow-approved selection of sin-free delicacies.
It’s a new venture by Viet Shack pioneer Nelson Lam and his healthy baker wife, Simone Yau. Following the success of Viet Shack (known as a clean-eaters lunch spot), Simone’s dessert café will help to further diversify the Arndale Market’s medley of food joints and smells by introducing an elegant boutique-style kitchen with glossy white tiles and vintage Smeg appliances.
“We wanted people to indulge themselves without any guilt – we call it having a guilt-free sweet tooth,” says Nelson. “Simone has always been into health and yoga, yet she likes sweet things. Healthy baking was a way of maintaining some form of balance. And this has always been a dream of hers.
"When this space became vacant six weeks ago we sprang into action. Everything is home-baked and freshly made. We do everything ourselves."
Simone and NelsonHere at Simone’s, when they speak of healthy desserts they’re not talking fruit salad, they're talking cheesecakes, brownies, lemon drizzle cakes, cupcakes and more, dressed up in pretty Instagram-worthy packages. They also look utterly sinful, despite containing no sugar, no dairy and no gluten. Simone's have also exchanged regular flour for coconut flour, as well as bypassing butter for a vegan alternative.
For some (mainly Gordo), these omissions sound blasphemous, yet the healthy baker has ensured that her cakes have retained all the taste, and has promised to satisfy all sweet tooths with her tried-and-tested healthy baking techniques.
“We want Simone’s to be like a kitchen, a home-from-home where you can walk in and open the fridge... but pay at the end of course," laughs Nelson. "There’s not much in the area that does anything similar. I’d say we’re like Home Sweet Home but with none of the sugar. We love Home Sweet Home but after one of their cakes you feel like you can run a marathon you’re on such a sugar high – then you crash."
On first taste of the rich cookie dough and peanut butter chocolate brownies, the sweet strawberry cheesecakes and fluffy lemon drizzle slices, it’s hard to believe that there’s been no naughty business added into the mix. Are they sure there’s been no tampering with the batter?
“We’ve had a few people not believe us, so we’ve had to film the baking process,” explains Nelson. “There’s been a lot of trial and error. There are brownies that look like pancakes and brownies that look like Big Macs in our house. But Simone has now come to a point where she’s perfected her recipes.”
“We prefer to use honey to sweeten our desserts or fruit extracts,” explains Simone. “Or with vegan cakes, for example, we may use beetroot as a natural sweetener.”
Simone's 'guilt-free' dessertsSimone’s recipes also include raw-cheesecakes. Following raw veganism principles, the cakes are made using only organic plant-based ingredients and are frozen instead of baked.
“For the cheesecakes, we use crushed nuts and dates instead of a biscuit base. And we use pureed fruits that are locally sourced from McCall’s organic market in the Northern Quarter. Again, there's no butter, no fat, no sugar and they're gluten free. As we can’t bake a raw cheesecake, the cakes are then frozen overnight to keep them together,” explains Nelson.
Sticking true to a champion clean-eater's dietary requirements, there’s also matcha green tea infused desserts on the menu, as well as a generous supply of coconut water to wash it all down with.
Opening fully from Thursday 1 September, Simone's will also provide artisan sandwiches, courgette spaghetti and other savouries.
Home-from-homeSimone’s promises to be upfront about the nutritional value in all of their treats – so you need not fret if you’re following a strict diet. A healthy dessert spot feels like a well-timed venture in Manchester, what with the likes of super-healthy Deliciously Ella and Madeleine Shaw raking it in with their healthy recipe books.
So what is dessert without the sin? It's a sweet tooth satisfied without the threat of cavities.
Find Simone's on Twitter, and in the Manchester Arndale Market food court, 49 High St, Manchester M4 3AH
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