Whether it's a homemade strawberry shortcake in summer or a chef's complex medley of sweets, dessert is the perfect ending to a meal. Most of us, even those who seldom indulge, have a favourite dessert. After all, sweet is one of the basic flavours and we seem to be hard-wired to like it. Yet while everyone has a taste for sweetness, not every culture enjoys a dessert course at the end of the meal. And desserts as we know them - the light sponge cakes, the ice creams, the steamed plum puddings - are neither as old nor as ubiquitous as many of us believe. Jeri Quinzio traces the history of desserts and the way they, and the course itself, have evolved over time. The story begins before dessert was a separate course - when sweets and savouries were mixed on the table - and concludes in the present, when homely desserts are enjoying a revival, and as molecular gastronomists are creating desserts an alchemist would envy. An indulgent read, for all those with a curious mind and a sweet tooth.

The stories behind Turkey's huge variety of sweets and puddings are as fascinating as their multiplicity of flavours. This riveting exploration of their history and role in Turkish culture is a voyage of adventure, taking us from the sultan's palace to the homes of ordinary people in Turkey's villages and towns, and beyond to Central Asia, Persia, Arabia, Egypt and the Levant. This is the land of Turkish delight perfumed with rosewater and musk, rose jam, whose praises were sung by Rumi, asure, zerde tinted with saffron, baklava filled with nuts, clotted cream or cheese, milk puddings and helvas, strings of nuts dipped in grape syrup, lollipops in the shape of animals and model gardens built of sugar carried in wedding processions. The first study of Turkish confectionery ever to be published, Sherbet and Spice offers a rare look at the evolution of sweets from the non-European angle, based on many Turkish sources little known outside Turkey that lend a new dimension to the subject.

Move over ice cream, hello nice cream! With over 70 fresh and vibrant recipes, Guilt-Free Nice Cream has everything you need to know about creating delicious and flavourful dairy-free nice cream.Using bananas as the base, you simply add your main ingredients of choice, churn, chill and hey presto, you have your very own healthy ice cream! Flavours include classics such as Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble, Banana Rum n Raisin and Raspberry Ripple as well as more inventive combinations such as a tropical Pina Colada Nice Cream served inside a pineappale! Margie also shows you how you can use your nice cream as a show-stopping dessert including a triple layer Neopolitan Nice Cream Cake, Double-Choc Salted Caramal Mini Magnums and an exquisit Peanut Butter and Chocolate Tart. Not just for dessert, nice creams also make a healhty choice for breakfast; use in smoothie bowls, shakes, granola pots or for ultimate indulgence, serve on top of waffles or pancakes!Complete with recipes for fun sauces and toppings, cookies, brownies and a highly addictive Caramel Popcorn, Guilt-Free Nice Cream is the only frozen-treat you will need this summer: natural, nice and (just a little bit) bananas!

It's time to eat healthy. Avoid all those chemicals, preservatives, and unhealthy ways to grow and raise our food. Here are some of our favorite dessert treats, and they are all organic. You'll find delicious cookies, cakes, bars, treats for kids and adults, pops and snacks--all tantalizing and all 100% organic. There are complete cooking instructions, colorful photos of the how-to and the finished desserts, and everything you need to know to create your own.

Which dessert is named after the heroic third-century Queen Zenobia of Palmyra? Which luscious rice pudding shares its name with the eighth-century Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun? How does one make the perfect Baqlawah? Blending cookery with culture and recipes with history, this is the fascinating and delectable story of traditional Arab sweets. The authors here take us on a culinary journey across Iraq, Syria, Egypt and al-Andalus, presenting readers with clear and easy-to-recreate recipes from across the medieval Arab world. Filling the tables of caliphs and noblemen, these sumptuous desserts of saffron and rose water conjure the opulence and grandeur of the medieval Islamic world. Bringing together tenth- to fourteenth-century Arabic texts, the authors retrace the history of these sweet dishes, reviving the original recipes and following their development and influence over the centuries into non-Arabic speaking lands. Honey, dates, figs and pomegranates are just a few ingredients featured in this exquisite selection of mouth-watering desserts which have been modernised for cooks to try at home, all woven together with medieval poems and stories. From delicious pastries, filled with pistachios and fragrant syrups, to luscious puddings, biscuits, and pies, it is the ideal addition to any kitchen. A unique insight into Middle Eastern culinary history, this book is a must-have for anyone with a sweet tooth.

#1 Amazon New Release! Cooking, Baking and Making DIY recipes and DIY ideas for all seasonsDIY Ideas DIY Recipes: From the creative mind of the Harried Housewife blog, comes a beautifully packaged one-stop-shop book bursting with DIY recipes and DIY ideas for the entire year! Cooking, Baking and Making - 100 Holiday Recipes and DIY Ideas for All Seasons and Reasons includes 60 DIY recipes with bonus designs and 40 DIY ideas that tie your home together for all 365 days. For example: Spring: Serve Herbed Cucumber Tea Sandwiches and a make a Spring Centerpiece Summer: Delight your guests with Fresh Berries and Cannoli Cream and make your own decorative coasters Autumn: Bake Dilled Beer and Cheddar Bread and make Autumn Harvest Potpourri Winter: Enjoy Creamy Eggnog Cupcakes and make Festive Votives Ideas and Recipes for all seasons and a simpler time: Cynthia O'Hara presents incredibly user-friendly projects and dishes that make replicating her flavors and designs as natural as the changing of the seasons. The Harried Housewife has written articles and developed a wide variety of recipes that reflect a simpler time and are ideal for budget-conscious families. The "Harried Housewife's Recipe Box" column is syndicated nationally in regional newspapers.