Cook Book Review! Sugar and Spice

A wonderfully unique and unexpected collection of desserts that showcase spice over sugar, with 80 recipes that both reinvent classic sweets and introduce more unusual spice-infused desserts.

In Sugar and Spice, veteran food editor and recipe developer Samantha Seneviratne invites readers to explore a bold new world of spice-centric desserts. Each chapter centers on a different spice--some familiar, like vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger; others less expected (especially in sweet preparations), such as peppercorns, chiles, and cardamom. With fascinating histories, origin stories, and innovative uses for each spice, this book will inspire readers to rediscover and re-stock their spice drawers, and raise their desserts up to a whole new level of flavor.

This collection of desserts intrigued me mainly due to the name. It is beautifully illustrated and is separated into chapters by a specific ingredient (i.e. cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, chile, etc). Each section also includes a personal story (which I will admit I skipped) and a description of the featured spice. I found this part to be the most intriguing because it gives a little bit of history on the spice with tips on how to purchase and store it properly.

Now, you may be wondering what a review like this is doing on my fitness blog, but I wanted to use this as a reminder that eating clean doesn't mean you can't spoil yourself every once in awhile. Many of the recipes within would be perfect for those nights of entertaining and, with portion control, well within your diet.

I'm not much of a baker, but I think this is definitely one cookbook I will add to my collection just the same.

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