Mumbai, 16 December, 2015: India found its first “Best Dessert Chef” as the Grand Finale of the SugarFree Dessert Challenge concluded at The Yellow Chilli restaurant at Powai in Mumbai today. Twelve (12) contestants selected from over 1500 entries at the regional cookouts of the challenge from across the country, fought tooth and nail to produce their finest dessert recipes using SugarFree Natura. The final 12 contestants were judged by none other than ace master chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

Sushree Satapathy from Mumbai, prepared a delicious version of the Spinach Mouse using Sugar Free Natura, to bag the coveted “Best Dessert Chef” title. Avinash Kaur from Bangalore and Anamika Roy from Kolkata jointly bagged the second place, whereas Sweta Biswal from Bangalore won the third place with their respective recipes at the cookout. While Avinash prepared the Coconut Halwa, Anamika dished out Sitafal Malai. Sweta Bisal made Papaya Laddoo, all using Sugar Free Natura.

All the twelve finalists will get a chance to shoot with Sanjeev Kapoor for his channel Food Food and showcase their talent. The top 10 recipes from each region, will be published in the upcoming SugarFree Dessert Cookbook.

Speaking about the Sugar Free Dessert Challenge, Tarun Arora, Chief Operating Officer & Director, Zydus Wellness Limited said, “The journey to finding India’s Best Dessert Chef has been pretty exciting. We never anticipated such enthusiasm and excitement among people to really be open to replacing sugar with an artificial sweetener especially for making desserts. I am happy that we were able to help people come forward, realise their dreams and at the same time, be a bit more health conscious by making the right choice of switching to use Sugar Free Natura.”

Delicious desserts cooked using Sugar Free Natura at the Grand finale included Spinach Mousse, Atta Sheera, Kiwi Frine, Mithai Fusion, Pathisapta, Sitaphal Malai, Arbi & Beetroot Mousse, Coconut Halwa, Cheezy Singoda Cake, China Grass Pudding with Nuts, Beetroot Modak and Green Papaya Laddoos.

Chef, Sanjeev Kapoor stated, “It has been a real pleasure to watch talent from across the country dish out some of the finest desserts. The innovations made to traditional dishes have been unthinkable; at the same time, the ease with which participants have been able to blend Sugar Free Natura into their dishes to ensure the perfect balance and blend of sweetness has been phenomenal. The Sugar Free Dessert Challenge has truly proven to be a great platform for participants to display their skills. I congratulate all the finalists for their relentless effort to excel and wish them luck for a bright future.”

Sugar Free, a name synonymous to the sugar substitute category and a leader in the Indian market with over 90% market share, had kicked off the Sugar Free Dessert Challenge a month back to find the best home cook dessert chef in India. The month-long contest saw over 1500 entries being submitted from across the country to participate in this interesting competition. The love for food and the mass popularisation of food-shows has also helped in bringing people closer to realising their dreams the field of culinary art. The dessert making competition was a very unique way to engage and inform consumers about the benefits of replacing normal sugar and to prepare their favourite recipes for Desserts using Sugar Free Natura as an alternate.

A lot of Indians are making lifestyle changes and showing great interest in healthy food. These choices are being made by people irrespective of whether they are afflicted with any disease including diabetes or obesity, purely as a preventive measure. Sugar Free Dessert challenge is a victory for all those who would love to indulge in desserts, yet would be committed to a healthy lifestyle.

Sugar is a big problem these days; every other day we read about the ill effects of sugar-laden foods on our health. Sugar Free Dessert Challenge is to demonstrate that people don’t have to miss