This is a love story between sugar and spice. – 80 recipes and stories explore the cultural history, symbolism and flavours of spice and how they can be used in sweet cooking and baking. Floral and fruity spices pair well with rich fats. Warming spices like ginger and clove play off treacly brown sugar. Anise sweetens, lemony coriander seed brightens, and herbaceous notes pick out complexity in chocolate. A suspicion of nutmeg cuts the sweet creaminess of custard for a more rounded tart, and a whisper of cardamom makes inky poached plums jaunty and interesting. Chapters are divided by taste to guide you towards a dessert or bake that is bright and zippy, floral and fragrant, or dark and spicy. Recipes include spice switches so you can be creative and playful with your combinations. For those with an eye to expanding their repertoire, there are helpful spice-matching features and flavour wheels to inspire. A whole world of inviting new flavours awaits.