It is easy to get into a baking rut, using the same ingredients over again and sticking to the same, tried-and-true flavor profiles. If you find yourself in a bit of a baking rut, now is the time to pull yourself out of it as we head into the fall baking season. There are many ways to start climbing out of that rut, but the easiest is to pick up a brand new cookbook and start trying your hand at a few of the recipes. The book The New Sugar and Spice: A Recipe for Bolder Baking is all about brightening up your baking by making better use of the ingredients in your spice cabinet, adding extra layers of flavor and more complexity to each and every thing that you bake.
This book is divided into chapters by spice, so you can start with a spice that you are familiar with or with one that is a little bit outside of your usual comfort zone. The chapters include Peppercorn & Chile, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove & Cardamom, Vanilla, Ginger, and Savory Herbs & Spices. Within each chapter, you’ll find a wide variety of recipes from sorbets to drop cookies, each using a different type of spice to enhance the flavors of that recipe. Some of the recipes use fresh spices, while others rely on dried spices, which makes the recipes very accessible to those who want to start baking without making a special trip to the store. The recipes are clearly written and easy to follow along with, illustrated with beautiful photographs that will get your mouth watering just as much as the dishes themeselves.
The recipes in this book are a great stepping stone because they are inventive without being too exotic, which means that you don’t need to invest in difficult-to-find or very expensive spices just to give the recipes a try. You will learn how to play with spices in cakes and other baked goods, however, and you’ll find that you’re inspired to dig a bit deeper into your spice cabinet the next time you’re looking to shake up an old classic.
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