Jean Anderson's Sin-Free Desserts

Anderson (coauthor of The New Doubleday Cookbook ) delves into desserts with a single, salutary goal: to lower the cholesterol content of what is, for many Americans, the best part of the meal. And she shows a penchant for the classic in souffles and charlottes. In a distinctively clear and authoritative voice, Anderson discusses the best ways to cut cholesterol (and, often, fat and calories as well) with the help of diet foodstuffs. Fat-free mock cream cheese, liquid egg substitutes and butter flavor granules are her staples. The results? Blueberry cobbler cut with low-fat buttermilk and a daub of margarine gets its flavor from height-of-the-season fruit; her version of Oslo apple pie skips the lard crust in favor of a spicy melange of apples, nuts, sugar and spice, baked with just enough flour t hold the mass together. A chocolate pasta, dressed with a cocoa sauce thickened with cornstarch and accented with espresso, will not deprive but delight. Suprisingly, though, the author does not make use of parchment paper to reduce fats used to grease baking pans. Moreover, many of her 150 recipes could have eliminated calories with the use of sugar substitutes. Apparently, Anderson is still a purist when it comes to the really sweet. BOMC selection. (Nov.)