Another keto-friendly bakery has made the leap from an online store to a brick-and-mortar one. Goodies from Kekito Bakery, helmed by 30-year-old self-taught baker Charlene Yang, are now available at farm-to-table food-court concept Mahota Kitchen. Charlene’s bakes are mostly Japanese-inspired, with offerings like what she claims is the “lowest carb Japanese cheesecake you can find in stores” (see the yuzu cotton cheesecake below) and a simple cream roll cake. She says Kekito is made up of the words keki meaning cake in Japanese and keto , a low carb way of eating )currently one of the most fashionable diets around). Hence, Kekito simply means Nippon-style cakes with low carb keto qualities.

The 30-year-old self-professed carb lover says she started restricting sugar and carbohydrates in her diet several years ago when she found herself putting on weight. “But I really, really love cakes,” she chimes. “Low-carb cakes tend to be dense and eggy, so I wanted to make cakes that are as light and close to regular cakes as possible.”

Besides catering to keto dieters and her own personal concerns, Charlene said she started baking these low-carb-no-sugar treats as something her family members, who have a history of diabetes, could eat as well. “This is really a solution for people who want to be healthier,” she adds.

Her bakes are all flour and sugar-free — in their place, she uses the likes of almond meal, coconut flour and a blend of monkfruit and erythritol (a low-calorie natural sweetener created when a type of yeast ferments glucose from corn or wheat starch). That said, these confections are mainly made from cream, cream cheese and butter. So, if you’re watching your calories, they are not your friends. While proponents of the ketogenic diet swear it is effective for weight loss, it is by no means low in calories. In a nutshell, the keto diet is high in fat, moderate in protein and low in carbohydrates. This combination results in the body going into a state of ketosis, where stored fat is burned in the absence of carbs, producing ketone acides that fuel you.

Charlene, who used to work in marketing for consumer goods, started Kekito Bakery as an online store in April this year. A month later, she took her bakes to special events like “Reverse Diabetes Today” at Mahota Kitchen, where they consistently sold out. Recognising a good thing when they saw it, the folks at Mahota Kitchen invited Charlene to bake from their premises and serve her keto-friendly treats at their outlets in Kitchener Complex and Century Square. Today, she serves a menu of three no-bake cheese and mousse cakes, plus two Japanese cotton cheesecakes at Mahota Kitchen. They are available by the slice, whole, or as a plated dessert with a scoop of keto-compliant ice cream. Other treats like her cream roll cake and keto bread rolls are only available through her online store.

This plainly flavoured no-bake cheesecake is lighter than we imagined, given that it’s made with cream cheese, heavy cream and gelatine. The sturdy filling sits atop a base made from ground hazelnuts and butter, giving it a toasty nutty flavour. It does need a bit of fruit to cut through the richness, and the fat strawberry that garnishes our slice does the trick. We had ours with a scoop of chocolate ice cream made with cream, zero sugar coverture dark chocolate, and sugar replacements Stevia and erythritol. It’s almost as good as the real thing save for the fact that it begins melting almost as soon as it hits the table.

Whipped Greek yoghurt and heavy cream go into this creamy no-bake cake with the distinct tang of yoghurt. We like the dense almond cake base, but can barely taste the blueberries in this number except for a whisper of fruity tartness.

The fact that this baked cheesecake is keto-compliant is besides the point. Cottony-soft and fluffy, it has just the right balance of sweetness and makes a fine benchmark for Japanese cheesecakes in general. The only thing that could make it even better is a stronger hit of zesty yuzu flavour. And, it boasts only 1.3g of net carbs a slice (a piece of regular Japanese cheesecake contains around 14g carbs).

Despite being baked as well, this one’s denser than its yuzu cousin and suffused with that bitter edge of good-quality green tea powder. It could be sweeter, though. A slice of this also contains 1.8 of carbs only.

Silky, dark and with a good pinch of salt, this cake will satisfy any chocolate craving. The heavy cream, cream cheese, pure cocoa powder and butter in this number make for a very rich, barely sweetened cake. The soft, biscuit-y base made from unsweetened cocoa powder and ground hazelnuts lends some much-needed texture.

The soufflé-esque texture of this cake is lovely, but it is egg-heavy and tastes like a really airy omelette. The fresh cream filling is lush and barely sweetened. As folks more accustomed to regular cake, we think this could use more sweetener.

Made from finely ground almond meal, these teacakes are just a little denser than their non-keto counterparts and lightly sweetened. In fact, we’re impressed that they are rather fluffy and plenty moist. We liked the Earl Grey version best, with its pronounced tea flavour and lovely lilt of dried lavender flowers strewn across its surface. The chocolate version is rich but barely sweetened, while the orange doesn’t that have pep of citrus flavour that would have come from a splash of juice (which has too much fructose to be keto-friendly).

While these buns look like regular bread and have a nutty, wheat-y flavour, their texture is anything but bread-like. Pull them apart and you’ll find stringy strands of dough that are spongey, eggy and light. They’re not unpleasant, but we imagine that if we were on a keto diet, this wouldn’t pass muster as a satisfying bread roll.

When we peel apart one of these flat golden buns with our hands, their seemingly tight and dry crumb tells us they’re going to taste the way they look. Yet somehow, they don’t. With a texture akin to a cross between bread and cake, these buns — made of cream cheese, mozzarella, coconut and almond flour, and eggs — are surprisingly savoury and satisfying.

More great options for the ever-growing community of people on keto diets, especially those who love delicate Japanese-style cakes. And cheese. As happy-go-lucky sugar-gobbling folk, however, we think these cakes need a little bit more sweetness for them to count as lust-inducing, calorie-worthy desserts.

Kekito Bakery’s cakes and breads are available online at www.kekitobakery.com or for dine-in at Mahota Kitchen (http://www.mahota.sg/locate-us/) at Century Square and Kitchener Complex (last orders at 9pm).

Photos: Alvin Teo