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A 75 g bag of Diablo cream sweets holds 17 or 18 pieces at the 4.2 g portion size printed on the pack. Plan on 17, and one bag covers five guests taking three each. So 20 guests need four bags. Put two flavours out rather than one big bowl of the same sweet.
The two bags we would tip into the bowls:
How many sweets do you need per person?
Start from the bag, not from a guess. Our cream sweets declare a 4.2 g portion, and 75 g divided by 4.2 g is 17.9, so every bag holds 17 or 18 sweets. Plan on 17 and you will not come up short.
Three pieces a guest is the number we plan on when there is other food on the table, which works out at one bag per five guests. If sweets are the only thing you are putting out, plan five pieces a head and divide by the 17 in a bag.
| Guests | Sweets alongside other food | Sweets on their own |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 2 bags | 3 bags |
| 20 | 4 bags | 6 bags |
| 30 | 6 bags | 9 bags |
| 50 | 9 bags | 15 bags |
Two flavours beat one large pile of the same thing, because a second piece is more tempting when it is a different one.
How much sugar is actually in a sugar free sweet?
Our Mint and Cream Sweets carry 0.4 g of sugars per 100 g, so a whole 75 g bag holds about 0.3 g of sugars. The Strawberry and Cream bag sits at 0.5 g per 100 g. For scale, the NHS puts the adult limit for free sugars at 30 g a day.
The sweetness in our cream sweets comes from isomalt and maltitol syrup. Both are polyols, also called sugar alcohols: carbohydrates that taste sweet, carry fewer calories than sugar and are absorbed slowly. UK labelling law counts them separately from sugars, which is why the sugars line on the pack reads so low. We wrote a fuller explainer on what sugar alcohols are and how they behave.
Slow absorption is the whole point of isomalt, and Great Britain authorises one specific way of describing it:
Consumption of foods/drinks containing isomalt instead of sugar induces a lower blood glucose rise after their consumption compared to sugar-containing foods/drinks.
The authorised GB health claim wording for isomalt. It describes the ingredient, not any one product.
Our Mint and Cream sweets are 87.1 g of polyols per 100 g and the strawberry 86.8 g, so both packs carry the line excessive consumption may produce laxative effects, exactly as UK labelling law requires above 10 percent. Polyols are absorbed slowly, which is precisely why they behave differently from sugar, and a few pieces at a time is how they are meant to be enjoyed.
What should you put out for guests with different diets?
Two bowls cover most tables. Our cream sweets, the mint and the strawberry, hold gluten free, kosher and halal certificates and are made without gelatine. They contain milk, soya and coconut, and the packs carry a may contain warning for peanuts, sesame seeds and nuts, so write all six on a card beside the bowl.
Our sugar free Gummy Bears are the chewy option at 0.1 g of sugars per 100 g. They are made with gelatine and hold no gluten free certificate, so they are the bowl to label. Put the cream sweets next to them and every guest has something to reach for without asking you a question across the room.
How do you keep a sweet table working all evening?
The cream sweet packs say cool and dry, ideally 15 degrees C and no warmer than 25 degrees C. The Gummy Bear pack asks for 20 to 25 degrees C, so one cool corner suits both. A windowsill in September sunshine goes well past that, and so does a shelf above a radiator, so pick the cool end of the room. If chocolate is going out alongside the sweets, our guide to storing chocolate without bloom covers the temperatures that matter.
Open the bags an hour before guests arrive and tip them into shallow dishes you can top up. A bag left on the table for people to open themselves gets picked over far less than a filled bowl does.
Frequently asked questions
How many sweets are in a 75 g bag of Diablo cream sweets?
Seventeen or eighteen. The pack declares a 4.2 g portion and 75 g divided by 4.2 g is 17.9. Use 17 when you are planning quantities and you will not come up short.
Can you leave sugar free sweets out all evening?
Yes. Keep the bowls below 25 degrees C, which is the maximum storage temperature printed on our packs, and off sunny windowsills. Shallow dishes topped up through the night stay tidier than one large bowl filled once.
Which Diablo sweets are made without gelatine?
The cream sweets, including Mint and Cream and Strawberry and Cream, are made without gelatine and hold gluten free, kosher and halal certificates. Our Gummy Bears are made with gelatine, so keep those in a separate labelled bowl.