The New Sugar & Spice

June 15, 2015
With spices infused in every delectable bite, Seneviratne, a food editor and stylist at Fine Cooking, attempts to waken the eater’s taste buds with a handful of flavorful ingredients that most Western cooks only use by the pinch. The first chapter, Peppercorn & Chile, makes it clear that this is not your classical pastry book. Recipes such as sweet fig and black pepper scones and bay leaf rice pudding expand the concept of what constitutes dessert. Even more traditional dishes, such as blackberry-peach hand pies and apricot raspberry cobbler with hazelnut biscuits, have a hint of extra spice mixed in. The book is divided into seven major categories of spice, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, or cloves and cardamom, and there are plenty of highlights that may pique a new interest in spice or recall that soothing kick in the back of one’s throat. With extra explanations for buying the freshest spices and how to keep them at their best, this book is a must-have for people who are looking to spice up the best part of the meal.

Starred review from November 15, 2015

Eighty spice-infused desserts--from fragrant Sri Lankan love cakes to cardamom-scented Swedish cream buns--fill this engaging debut from food writer and recipe developer Seneviratne (lovecommacake.com). Each of the seven chapters (e.g., "Peppercorn & Chile," "Nutmeg," "Ginger") begins with an evocative personal vignette, followed by background information on individual spices. Recipes such as s'more pie, frozen eggnog pops, and butter rum snack cake have "just enough sugar necessary for the best possible experience," which will please health-conscious readers who find excessive sweetness unpalatable. With bright, unfussy photographs, this volume speaks effortless elegance. VERDICT Marked by a sense of the exotic, Seneviratne's recipes will lure many home cooks, including fans of Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert and Claudia Fleming's The Last Course.

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