SWEET TRANSFORMATION

Cara Linn didn’t start having health issues until she began working as a pastry chef. An Amarillo native who went to culinary school in Louisiana, Cara landed a coveted internship with Elisa Strauss, the proprietor of Confetti Cakes in New York City and a celebrity cake designer. Linn jumped at the opportunity and moved to NYC. She ended up living and working there for several years.

The career opportunity was amazing, but she felt terrible. “I was baking all the time, tasting all the time, eating all the time,” she says. Her energy plummeted. She began developing skin problems like eczema and soon realized that her skin tended to flare up as she ate more sugary desserts.

Determined to find a solution, she began a period of research and self-experimentation. Finally Linn pinpointed the culprit: processed white sugar. “That’s what made me feel so terrible. My blood sugar would spike – I’d get that sugar high – and then the crash,” she says. “I decided if [baking sweets] is what I’m going to do for a living, then I have to be able to eat what I’m making. So I started experimenting with organic sugar.”

After the Strauss internship and stints at a number of NYC bakeries and restaurants, Linn ended up starting her own cake business in Brooklyn. Her experiments in the kitchen led her to less-processed sweeteners like organic cane sugar and agave nectar. Baking with those products instead of white table sugar almost immediately improved her skin, her energy levels and how she felt overall.

“It made a huge difference,” she says.

Today, Cara Linn is the new proprietor of Uptown Sweet Shoppe, a bakery located in the Summit Shopping Center at 34th and Coulter. She bought the business in November 2020 from former owner Betty Smith, who was ready to retire. Linn is focusing on introducing

healthier ingredients to the bakery’s products, and that includes using natural sweeteners that take the place of processed white sugar. We asked her to share more about these sweeteners and why she prefers them. “White sugar has been taken through a process of refinement,” she says. Table sugar is extracted from crops like sugar beets or sugar cane and centrifuged to dispose of its outer coating. Then it’s dissolved into syrup that is then processed using multiple chemicals before being distilled into the pure, sweet, granulated crystals with which most bakers are familiar.

“Sugar isn’t bad, but when we strip all the nutrients out of it, that’s when it becomes bad. Everything is stripped out but the sweetness factor,” she explains. “It’s basically just empty calories without any nutritional value.”

Today she prefers to use alternatives that require less chemical processing.

Organic cane sugar: Though still refined, organic sugar avoids any chemical treatments and, as a result, ends up bearing a much more complex flavor profile. Using it in her products didn’t just make Linn feel better, but made her cakes taste better. “It’s still in raw form and retains some nutritional value,” she says of organic sugar. “And it gave [products] more than just a sweet taste, but more flavor and depth. I fell in love with it.”

One cup of organic sugar can be substituted for one cup of refined sugar. It may be slightly more expensive, but Linn says the switch is worthwhile. “You’ll have less guilt, and it’s a little more filling and substantial. It’s so worth it,” she says. Organic cane sugar is available in most grocery stores.

Agave nectar: Another healthier substitute for white table sugar is this plant-based liquid, which is produced by filtering sap from the agave plant. It contains trace amounts of nutrients (including vitamins A, C and E) and has a much lower glycemic index than sugar. Higher glycemic index diets are known to cause spikes in blood sugar and bring a greater risk of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Linn prefers to use agave nectar in her gluten-free baked goods. “A lot of gluten-free [products] can be dry, but ours are moist. Agave nectar sweetens and moistens at the same time, and you don’t get that sugar high,” she says. When substituting agave nectar for sugar, use half the amount of liquid than the amount of sugar instructed by the recipe. “Cut it in half,” says Linn. “A half-cup of agave for a cup of sugar.”

She says the moistness of the agave may also require reducing the overall amount of liquids in a recipe. Expect to have to experiment a little.

During a break from baking at Uptown Sweet Shoppe, Cara Linn says that a lot of people think they should avoid sugar altogether when, really, they should just try to steer clear of processed white sugar. “People get off of sugar because they’re always feeling tired or sluggish,” she says. The switch changed that for her, and she got to continue enjoying the desserts that were such a big part of her work.

But making the sweetener switch didn’t just transform how she felt, but how her cakes and other desserts tasted.

“It’s just a more rounded-out dessert,” she says. “Desserts should be full of flavor. Sweets are not supposed to just taste like sugar. You’re supposed to taste the details and balance of flavors.”

Switching to these alternatives may bring the same transformation to your kitchen as it did to Linn’s career.

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This signature buttercream is what makes our cupcakes different from all the rest. It’s not a sweet, powdered sugar frosting that can sometimes hurt your teeth or overpower a delicate cupcake.

1 cup organic cane sugar 4 egg whites 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (we love Madagascar Bourbon)

Combine sugar and egg whites in glass or metal bowl and place over pot of boiling water. Whisk constantly until egg whites are hot and sugar is dissolved. Transfer mixture to bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer), and whip on high until very stiff peaks form. Turn mixer to low and slowly add soft (but not melted) butter, one small chunk at a time. Slowly turn mixer back up to high and whip until buttercream comes together. It might look like it’s curdled and broken for a short while, but don’t worry! Keep going! *After buttercream is smooth and gorgeous, slowly pour in vanilla and mix until combined. Spread icing on top of cupcakes, cakes or brownies; we even love to sandwich it between chocolate chip cookies!

*If you have trouble seeing buttercream come together after step 4, try putting bowl into refrigerator for a while to cool, and then try whipping it again. It will eventually come together. The temperature of the butter and/or your kitchen can affect this delicate icing.

RECIPE COURTESY OF CARA LINN, UPTOWN SWEET SHOPPE