In South Africa, banting has quickly transformed from flavour-of-the-week buzzword to a bona fide food revolution. (We even made a list of banting-friendly restaurants.) Whether you’re a pious fan of the LCHF lifestyle or simply cutting out the carbs, we found five desserts that will sate your sweet tooth without the associated guilt. From banting brownies and apple tart to LCHF vanilla panna cotta, we list five banting-friendly desserts.

(Please note that while every effort is made to ensure the below desserts adhere to the LCHF guidelines, we cannot confirm whether or not Tim Noakes himself would approve of all items.)

Belle’s Patisserie (Birnam, Johannesburg)

Separate from their decadent cakes and desserts is the ‘skinny menu’, which offers a wide range of meals for the diet-conscious, including gluten-free, sugar-free and low-carb options. For dessert, they recommend their take on a classic baked cheesecake, which substitutes wheat with almond flour and sugar with xylitol. This sugar- and gluten-free delight arrives topped with sour cream and costs R35 per slice.

Belle’s Patisserie. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Coco Bistro (Erasmuskloof, Pretoria)

A dedicated banting menu offers a selection of breakfasts and main meals, but it’s Coco Bistro’s banting-friendly desserts that caught our attention. Try the rich pecan and macadamia nut brownies made with almond flour, coconut flour and coconut oil and served with a scoop of sugar-free ice cream sweetened with xylitol (R38). Another highlight is the banting apple tart, which contains apples and aniseed-infused butter, and arrives topped with cream cheese and cinnamon (R35 per slice).

Cold Gold (Stellenbosch, Cape Winelands)

Owner Janine van Zyl whips up special banting-friendly ice cream in a plethora of unique flavours, including salted caramel, milk tart, cookies and cream, crème caramel, English toffee, bulletproof cappuccino and more. The ice cream is made with real organic Jersey cream from Wellington and is free from chemicals, preservatives, stabilisers, artificial flavourants and colourants. Sweetened with xylitol, berries or dates, her banting ice cream contains only 1.8g of carbohydrates per two scoops, making it the perfect treat for devoted LCHF fans. Purchase a scoop of ice cream (R25 for a single; R40 for a double; R55 for a triple) from her dessert parlour or catch Cold Gold at the Blaauwklippen Family Market in Stellenbosch on Sundays. Alternatively, take home a 150ml, 500ml, 1L or 2L tub. In addition to her banting products, Janine also prepares a great range of dairy-free sorbets.

Cold Gold. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Ellies Deli at the Noordhoek Garden Café (Noordhoek, Cape Town)

Every Wednesday morning, this cosy deli fills up with hungry Capetonians looking to buy banting-friendly lemon meringue tarts, which are free from wheat, sugar and eggs. These mini tarts cost R15 each and are made with coconut flour, coconut cream, cacao butter, lemon and xylitol. While they are only available on Wednesdays and tend to sell out quickly, you can pre-order a batch from the deli.

Ellies Deli. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Mundo Vida Restaurant (Umdloti, KwaZulu-Natal)

Order their banting vanilla panna cotta made with full-fat yoghurt, vanilla pods, gelatin leaves, xylitol, balsamic reduction and honey, which arrives garnished with diced strawberries and fresh mint. While honey and strawberries do appear on the banting orange list, they aren’t regarded as cheating when enjoyed in small portions. This pudding costs R35.

Looking to whip up your own low-carb dessert? Check out our recipe for banting cheesecake with berry coulis crust.

Banting Panna Cotta at Mundo Vida. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.