Guilt-free desserts

Perfect parfaits. Tiramisu you could die for. Strawberry-topped cakes that can melt in your mouth. Le Patissier's creations look like decadent, calorie-laden treats, but you never have to worry about gaining a single pound if you indulge in its delightful delicacies.

Le Patissier specializes in creating cake towels -- that is towels that are expertly folded and rolled to look exactly like the baked treats they are modeled after.

"It's just a unique item. You really don't see anything like this out there," said Ricky Chen, sales coordinator for the American branch of the Japanese company. "They have that 'wow' factor that really catches the eye."

The cakes are more than just beautiful to look at. Once unwrapped, they provide towels in a variety of sizes. Additionally, the decorative fruit accents on the cakes are actually magnets and memo holders.

Towels used in the cakelike creations are 100 percent cotton and manufactured by the parent company, Prairie Dog.

Founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1993, Prairie Dog Ltd. has more than $20 million in annual sales offering towels, handkerchiefs, tapestries, wall art, pillows, blankets, bed linens and clothing and accessories. It also offers an eco-friendly line that uses organic cottons and herbal dyes.

Prairie Dog developed the Le Patissier line about five years ago. According to Chen, one of the company's top designers, Tadayoshi Iwaki, was sitting in a bakery one day, when he spied a roll cake. He thought he could recreate the look in towels, hurried home to test his theory and the rest, as they say, is history.

Each towel creation offered by Le Patissier was inspired by a real pastry or treat seen in a bakery or cookbook.

Iwaki, along with another designer from the firm, creates each cake towel from concept sketch to completion. He also manages general production, including sales strategy, marketing, inventory control, customer relations, as well as selling in actual stores so he can see the customers' reactions himself.

Chen said the cake towels were a huge hit in Japan before Prairie Dog decided to launch them in the United States about a year ago.

Currently, the company offers more than 100 items, including special holiday-themed cakes and pastries. Each cake is made by hand.

To further the bakery image of the cake towels, Le Patissier has created a fictional chef, who is credited for making the creations, and the finished products are often sold in mock bakeries complete with refrigerated cases and uniformed salespeople.

Naturally, the cakes are packaged in bakery boxes.

The cakes are priced from about $5 to $100. They are available at a variety of gift shops, boutiques, florists and through the company's online catalog at www.prairiedog.com.