Food can be an expression of who we are, and few foods have the power to please and uplift us as desserts do. In The World of Jewish Desserts, Gil Marks explores delicacies from Jewish communities around the world with more than 400 recipes that cover the full range -- culinary, geographical, ethnic, and cultural -- of Jewish desserts. This essential volume showcases the full spectrum of influences, offering desserts from both the Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions, and communities from Denmark to Tunisia, from Italy to Bombay.

A Jewish dessert can be anything from the petites madeleines invoked by Marcel Proust to the beloved jam turnovers of Isaac Bashevis Singer's Polish childhood. It can be German butter cake or a Middle Eastern syrup-soaked nut cake, the creamy rice pudding of India or an Eastern European cheese blintz.

Marks -- rabbi, chef, writer, historian -- has provided recipes for every type of sweet temptation: cakes and cookies, puddings and kugels, yeasted and unyeasted pastries, phyllo and strudel desserts, fruit desserts and confections. There's even a chapter on Passover desserts. While the sources of these delectable treats may seem exotic, the ingredients and techniques are not, and the easy-to-follow, step-by-step recipes have been tested and retested to make sure they will work in any home kitchen.

Head notes and sidebars illuminate the connections among food, culture, and history, giving fresh insight into the richness of the Jewish experience. Including extensive and valuable information on ingredients and cooking techniques, this book is one that you will use again and again.