From the sacred fudge served to India's gods to the ephemeral baklava of Istanbul's harems, the towering sugar creations of Renaissance Italy, and the exotically scented macarons of twenty-first century Paris, the world's confectionary arts have not only mirrored social, technological, and political revolutions, they have also, in many ways, been in their vanguard. The book captures the stories of sweet makers past and present from India, the Middle East, Italy, France, Vienna, and the United States, as author Michael Krondl meets with confectioners around the globe, savouring and exploring the dessert icons of each tradition. Readers will be tantalised by the rich history of each region's unforgettable desserts and tempted to try their own hand at a time-honoured recipe. A fascinating and rewarding read for any lover of sugar, butter, and cream, the book embraces the pleasures of dessert while unveiling the secular, metaphysical, and even sexual uses that societies have found for it.