Guilt-free treats the flavour of the moment

Desserts that cater to special diets are also appealing to regular folks looking for healthy indulgences

- Tan Hsueh Yun

Can you have your cake and eat it too? The owners of three food businesses say it is possible. Two of them started off catering to people with specific dietary requirements, but ended up appealing to a broader swathe of customers.

Vegan cafe Lilac Oak gets young customers with food allergies by offering vegan ice cream and waffles they can enjoy.

Word about Ketojiak's sugar-free, low-carb ice cream has spread beyond the community following a ketogenic diet. Diabetics and cancer patients weaning off sugar are enjoying its desserts.

And the newest brand of the three, Tofu G, sees potential in offering tofu gelato to people wanting guilt-free desserts. It plans to open multiple stores in Singapore and take the brand overseas.

Ketojiak: Dessert without the sugar spike

Where: 01-313, Block 44 Owen Road

Open: 12.30 to 5pm (Mondays to Thursdays), 12.30 to 10pm (Fridays to Sundays)

Info: The cafe is closed for a break. Check its Instagram account @ketojiak for when it will reopen

In 2020, during a medical check-up, Mr Galvin Sng's doctor told him he was in danger of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

The 43-year-old, who was then working as a family life educator in a voluntary welfare organisation, decided to go on a ketogenic diet, which is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate way of eating.

He had lost 20kg on the low-carb Atkins diet just before national service, but some of the weight had crept back on because, he says, of his sedentary lifestyle.

This time, he found a lot more support online and on social media from like-minded people.

"They would share what they eat," he says. "I still wanted good desserts, but the sugar-free ice cream brands out there didn't cut it for me."

Neither did online recipes for keto-friendly ice cream.