When I started writing Sweet & Skinny, back in 2010, people thought I was nuts. Why would a pastry chef want to write a book about desserts with less sugar and butter? At that point, people weren’t thinking so much about healthy twists and gluten-free. It wasn’t easy to find a publisher, either. To begin with, they didn’t like the original name, “Dive into Desserts.” Jennie Schacht, a friend and colleague, suggested Sweet & Skinny. She thought it did a better job of describing the book, and me. Random House agreed. They signed on to publish it. By the time the book was released, lighter and healthier baking was actually becoming a cool thing. It took a lot of self-restraint not to say, “I told you so,” to all the naysayers. 😉

In 2011, Sweet & Skinny was listed as one of People Magazine’s “top books for cooks.” The cookbook features 100 lighter and healthier baking recipes, including the famous chocolate cake I created on Top Chef and the Almond Joy macaroons that were featured in Epicurious. There’s an entire section dedicated to show-stopping desserts, sidebars for sugar-free options, and a section with recipes that can be done in 20 minutes or less. The book is available in paperback or as an ebook, and can be ordered on Amazon.

I am represented by Kayla Cichello at Upstart Crow.

My Sweet & Skinny Life is my second book dedicated to healthier baking. It has a similar format to the first book, including sidebars for making recipes sugar-free with stevia, or gluten-free with a variety of nutritious alternative flours. Many of the recipes were inspired by the desserts I created on my TV show. This book features both sweet recipes (lemon-poppyseed cake and carrot cupcakes) as well as savory dishes (feta & dill biscuits, spinach and herb stuffed crepes). It was published by Patakis and is exclusively published in Greek. You can order the book from the Patakis online bookstore.

My Sweet & Skinny Life was part reality TV, part cooking show. Twenty episodes, shot in Greece, featuring more than forty of my recipes.