Sweet & Southern: Classic Desserts with a Twist [Hardcover]

A fresh new voice in food writing reinvigorates decadent Southern desserts with a fun, modern edge. With the assured authority of an experienced baker and the easy wit of a natural storyteller, Ben Mims guides readers through the techniques and traditions of classic Southern desserts. Time-wasting fussiness and artificial ingredients are reconsidered in favor of practical, modern updates, fresh flavors, and global influences. This book features picture-perfect favorites such as Hummingbird Cake, Lemon Layer Cake, Peach Cobbler, Peanut Butter Pie, Triple Cherry Pie, and Buttered Pecan Ice Cream. Homemade staples such as upside-down cake, red velvet cake, key lime pie, cornbread pudding, and snickerdoodles are elevated with simple and inspired twists. Mims also offers original recipes that daringly mix Southern traditions with international influences, such as an Indonesian-inspired Cinnamon-Chocolate Spekkuk and a Sicilian cassata with Southern flavors. Mixing reminiscences and reflections with an expert baker’s tips and tricks, Sweet & Southern feels like an afternoon spent baking and gossiping with a friend. Precision is demonstrated through step-by-step photos and confident instruction, but the reader is also encouraged to experiment with different flavors, combinations, and preparations, empowering intrepid desert lovers to interpret and create new favorites.“…Sweet & Southern was pure, unexpected bliss. I wanted to make practically every one of Mr. Mims’s original, modern and often whimsical takes on classic Southern desserts, but had to stop myself (for now) after three. Creative notions abound…My favorite was a layered chocolate flan and cake hybrid — creamy, luscious and completely unlike anything I’d made before.” –The New York Times 

“Each recipe is presented with an eye for technique and a borderline-obsessive attention to detail - a mark of his pastry chefl“W