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Health conscious eaters and dieters can have their cake and eat it, too, now that chef Maja Pedovic-Moors, of Wellsford, has perfected her sugar-free recipes for decadent desserts.
Maja says her sweet treats are safe to consume for diabetics and won’t provoke an insulin response for people on ketogenic diets.
The keto diet restricts the intake of carbohydrates, including sugars, which forces the body to focus on burning fat stores for energy.
After gaining weight during pregnancy, Maja turned to the keto diet. She successfully shed 32kg in 18 months, but it took some figuring out.
“I realised that the recipes for keto were disgusting. Barely edible. I thought, as a chef, there must be a way to make this good.”
Maja has been in the industry for 15 years and has a master’s degree in gastronomy from her home country of Serbia.
She painstakingly experimented with recipes to figure out how to produce restaurant-quality desserts with low carbohydrates.
In her baking, Maja uses almond flour instead of regular flour and coconut oil instead of refined oil.
When dairy products are required, she uses a mixture of 70 per cent cocoa chocolate and 30 per cent whole cream.
She also uses Erythritol, which is a sugar powder that has the molecular structure of an alcohol. It cannot be digested by the body, despite tasting sweet.
“I’ve probably spent thousands of hours and dollars on these recipes, so I felt I had to share them with the world,” Maja says.
She has been “blown away” by the response from sweet tooths around the district and further afield since she started her Ma’Keto Kitchen business this year.
“We already have 600 followers on Facebook, and I get 10 to 20 enquiries from new customers each day.”
Customised cakes represent most of Maja’s sales, but she makes small desserts and selection boxes daily.
She says locals just need to message the Ma’Keto Kitchen Facebook page 20 minutes in advance. They can then pick their order up from her food truck at 66 Port Albert road in Wellsford.
Business is so good, Maja has made plans to quit her job as head chef at a local winery.
Maja moved to New Zealand after being invited by the winery’s former owners.
In Serbia, Maja was something of a celebrity chef, regularly appearing in the media.
During her career, Maja has worked as a chef on an expeditionary ship to Antarctica and for the Moroccan royal basketball team.
This summer, Maja is intending to sell her desserts at markets in the area. She will start with the Mangawhai Country Market on October 27.
“It will be like a small grand opening.”
