Whether it's a luscious fresh fruit pie baked for a family picnic or a rich, festive cake made to celebrate a church supper, desserts have always been an especially tempting part of the soul-food kitchen. In her new book, Brown Sugar, acclaimed author and journalist Joyce White explores this sweet bounty, offering more than 150 desserts from great African American cooks around the country. In the spirit of her successful first book, Soul Food, the recipes in Brown Sugar are simple, accessible, and delicious. You'll learn how to make cakes, pies, cobblers, crisps, puddings, candies, and much more, all filled with authentic, homemade flavor. Like Soul Food, Brown Sugar will also include informative sidebars on techniques and ingredients, as well as chapter intros and anecdotes illuminating the enduring importance of desserts in African American culture. More than simply a recipe book, Brown Sugar is an inspirational celebration of great food and the great traditions that surround it. Whatever your background, you'll want to make these soul desserts part of your own family table.

Joyce White, a contributing food editor for Heart & Soul magazine, also writes regularly about food, health, lifestyles, and travel for a number of publications. Her work has appeared in the Boston Globe, the New York Times, Newsday, the Chicago Tribute, the Montreal Gazette, and Essence magazine. She has also worked as an associate food editor at Ladies' Home Journal and as a reporter and editor at the New York Daily News. In 1980 she was awarded a Knight-Ridder journalism fellowship at Stanford University. White is a founding member of the New York Wine Writers Circle and has studied at the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. She lives in New York City.