Q. Why aren't Sweet Abandon cakes totally fat free?
We're not very big fans of fat free products. They tend to be flavorless and dry. Not much to enjoy about that! Au contraire (that's French!), a little fat improves texture and actually enhances the flavor of foods. Fat intake is more about the type of fat we eat. Sweet Abandon All Natural Cakes contain NO hydrogenated oils or trans fats - the bad fats. And they're so low in saturated fat that it's basically nonexistent. All together, only 30% of the calories in each cake are from fat and that's a definite plus…whether you're dieting or not!.
Q. Why are Sweet Abandon All Natural Cakes so high in protein?
We're much higher in protein than your typical snack cake or muffin because we include a large amount of soy protein, eggs and buttermilk. We've also kept the carbohydrate level low. Our cakes contain about as much protein as many nutrition bars…we think we just taste a whole lot better!.
Q. How many grams of carbohydrates are in a Sweet Abandon Cake?
With the exception of our delicious chocolate cake that has 23g of carbs, each of our other flavors has only 18g of carbs. This is about HALF the amount of carbohydrates in a typical snack cake or baked good of the same size. Because our carbohydrates are so low and our protein is so high, this combo makes Sweet Abandon ideal for diabetics OR carb counters.
Q. Your ingredients include crystalline fructose. What's up with that?
Fructose is derived from fruits and vegetables. In fact, it's sometimes referred to as "fruit sugar" and is even sweeter than the granulated cane sugar we find in our grocery stores. It's more expensive than cane sugar, which is why you don't see it used a lot in baked goods.
Fructose is a natural sweetener, unlike the aspartames, maltitols, maltoses, dextroses and sucraloses of the world. These artificial sweeteners are just that: artificial and non-nutritive. Sweet Abandon doesn't use any artificial ingredients.
But don't confuse "fructose" with "High Fructose Corn Syrup". HFCS is what soda and a slew of other popular foods use as a sweetener. They're not the same thing at all. HFCS is a highly refined sweetener derived from corn that is inexpensive to produce. It's not the healthiest kind of sugar to ingest and has an immediate affect on blood sugar levels in the body. Fructose however, has a lower glycemic index and has been shown to have less of an affect on blood sugar than most other refined sugars. It's a sweetener that works well for most diabetics or people predisposed to diabetes.
Q. Why don't you use artificial sweeteners like maltitol, aspartame or sucralose?
Well, we don't remember mom pulling out test tubes and chemistry equipment to bake cakes, so why should we? There are enough chemicals, additives and preservatives in foods already and we're not interested in adding to that selection. Fresh, high quality, natural ingredients are important to us. We believe that foods made with these ingredients are always more satisfying, flavorful and healthier. Why mess up a good thing, right? Artificial sweeteners may have no calories, but they can also leave you with a bitter aftertaste or worse yet, tummy troubles! .
Q. Are there any allergens I should be aware of?
Clearly, some people are allergic to certain foods. Only you and your doctor would know which ones might apply to you. We invite you to check out the Ingredient Statements of each of our cakes for yourself to see if you might be allergic to any of the ingredients. If there is any doubt that you might be allergic to an ingredient listed on a particular cake, be safe and just enjoy another flavor.
Q. You use walnuts and pecans in two of your cakes. If I'm allergic to peanuts, can I still enjoy your cake?
Walnuts and pecans - both in the tree nut category - are in our Banana and Carrot cakes, respectively. Even though a very small percentage of the population is allergic to peanuts specifically, no manufacturer can ever guarantee anything 100%. So, we do maintain full disclosure on our packaging for just that reason. Our cakes don't contain peanuts, but we do bake in a facility that uses peanuts in other products. Our bakery must maintain strict cleanliness policies, a food safety program and rigorous quality control. Before anything is baked, everything must be washed and sanitized according to stringent criteria. In addition, our products maintain kosher certification. This is an added benefit not only for obvious reasons, but it also assures an even higher level of cleanliness and food safety in the facility.
Q. Are Sweet Abandon Cakes organic?
No, despite the widespread perception that organic is healthier. Participants in a double-blind, controlled trial conducted by Cornell University's Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, "tended to prefer almost all of the taste attributes for the products labeled 'organic', even though they were identical to the products labeled 'regular'."* A label that lists "organic" ingredients may make a difference to some consumers, but for Sweet Abandon it doesn't make for a tastier cake. (*As cited in Food Navigator-USA online in an article by Caroline Scott-Thomas, 12-April-2011.)
Q. Did you reduce the size of Sweet Abandon Cakes to minimize the calories?
You're probably referring to the latest trend: "calorie downsizing" of a name brand snack to a manageable portion. Many mainstream manufacturers are saying that less of a bad thing makes it okay, which is fine if calories were all that mattered. Our Sweet Abandon Cakes however, have been created from the ground up to allow kids (and adults) the sweet indulgence we crave while controlling portion size (2 oz.), calories (160) and adding protein (8 or 9g depending on the flavor) for good measure. And with no high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners, kids get the taste of dessert without that common sugar spike. No spike, no crash! With the prevalence of adult diabetes (and its roots in childhood obesity) we hope that "low glycemic" will one day be as widely accepted as "gluten free" has become.
