Sweet Sugar, Sultry Spice: Exotic Flavors to Wake Up Your Baking

A diverse and accessible collection of spice-enhanced recipes that will transform your baking and awaken your senses--from a classically trained pastry chef.

Welcome to a world of exotic spices and flavorings from the warm embrace of clove and ginger to the fiery touch of peppercorns and chiles, from the sensual kiss of cardamom and rose to the surprising sensations of sumac and za'atar.

With encouraging language, invaluable tips, and a passionate approach to flavor, Malika Ameen seeks to push spices beyond the realm of savory to the world of sweet where they can add everything from a delicate whisper to a surprising punch to cakes and tarts, cookies and bars, ice creams and sorbets, barks and brittles, and more.

The 78 recipes are arranged by the feelings and sensations they evoke: Spicy and Warm; Floral and Aromatic; Bright and Fresh; Savory, Earthy and Nutty; and Complex and Mysterious. Create showstoppers such as Roasted Peach and Custard Borek for your next culinary gathering; its velvety saffron cream and subtle cardamom sugar are all wrapped inside light, crunchy layers of phyllo dough. Update classics with a new twist such as Lusty Lemon Squares with a spiced dark chocolate crust dotted with pink peppercorns. Kids and the young at heart will delight in the orange zest, vanilla bean, and cinnamon spiced churros with their accompanying sticky toffee sauce.

Beautiful full-page images and an invaluable spice glossary help round out an accessible addition to any dessert library.

MALIKA AMEEN is a classically trained pastry chef whose South Asian heritage sparked her love of spices--sweet and savory--in desserts. Her cooking journey has taken her from the East Coast to the West Coast and back to her home in the Midwest. As pastry chef at the legendary hotel Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, she earned accolades for desserts like her walnut cardamom snowball cookies and her sticky toffee pudding, which she brought with her to her hometown of Chicago, where she opened the acclaimed restaurant Aigre Doux. Malika starred on Bravo’s Top Chef: Just Desserts and frequently appears on local and national television. She is currently a culinary consultant and custom-order pastry chef. She lives in Chicago with her children.