Philly’s New Keto Bakery Serves Up Low-Carb Bliss

Excellent news for those who follow a ketogenic (keto) or low-carb diet: Philly’s first brick-and-mortar keto bakery, Dessert Crazy, has opened in Fairmount.

In case you haven’t heard of it, the keto diet is a popular way to loose weight and improve your health. The basic rules behind the diet are extremely low carbohydrates, moderate proteins, and high fats. The theory behind keto is that you need fat to burn fat. The diet is somewhat controversial among health experts, but there’s no denying that a lot of people trust it and have had positive results.

Serving up treats that won’t wreck your diet, owner Candice Conway specializes in desserts that are mouthwatering and scrumptious, while still being carb-conscious. She achieves this balance by using several unique and often hard-to-find sweeteners, such as the indigestible allulose, which is found in raisins and dates (Conway says that it “goes right through you”), tagatose, an “extremely rare and hard to find” monk fruit extract, and debittered stevia. Her creations are also baked with nontraditional, keto-friendly flours like almond and coconut. Cocoa also apparently can be used as a flour in certain recipes, which is a clever trick of bakery science that Conway utilizes. Must-try delights at the bakery? Cupcakes, lemon bars, and Swiss meringue buttercream.

Dessert Crazy will also dish up vegan dessert options, such as tahini bars, fat bombs and chocolate-covered nuts.

Conway is branching off her bakery in several interesting directions, offering quick-pick boxed lunches for keto on the go, such as a curried chicken salad sandwich served on a low-carb roll, along with some cookies. Down the road, she hopes to sell some of her favorite ingredients for keto hpome cooks, such as her rare sweeteners and gluten-free flours. She also wants to set up a nationwide delivery service for her bakery favorites.