Sticky. Sweet. Gooey. Eating a date is like biting into a caramel cloud, its sweet and soft flesh tinged with molasses and flavor. Dates are one of the oldest cultivated foods with over 600 varieties grown around the world today. From California's thirst-quenching date shakes to the quintessentially British sticky toffee pudding and its luscious butterscotch sauce, to wholesome date and sesame flatbreads, spicy ginger and date jam, and the creamiest, honeyed date cheesecake, Sun Bread and Sticky Toffee: Date Desserts from Everywhere is like a dense, shady date grove, packed with delicious, natural and healthy recipes that demonstrate the versatility of baking with dates and date syrup. This cookbook is food for the taste buds but also for healthy living: sensual, delicious desserts, illuminating the sundrenched tale of the date fruit, its story, past and present, and the food that continues to provide vitality and comfort to countless travelers on arduous journeys.
Sarah al-Hamad is a London-based food writer and the author of the highly-praised Cardamom and Lime: Recipes from the Arabian Gulf, which won the 2008 Gourmand Cookbook Award - Arabic cuisine, and was a finalist for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year. Growing up in Kuwait, some of her earliest memories are of her dad enjoying dates with buttermilk. She has an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies and also worked in publishing for many years.