Sugar High Friday: Spice Up Your Life! Part One

There's a definite autumnal chill in the air here: the beloved San Francisco Indian summer has finally made its last farewell, I think, and brisk, crisp, fog-coat of fall is rolling in with gusto. Perfect timing, I do believe, for all manner of spicy treats to warm one up. It's one of the things I love so much about fall: warm woolly scarves in all shades of winter-defying primary colors, rubber rainboots squeaking against rain-slick streets, something baking in the oven, filling the house with a comforting scents of vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, anise.

I'm so very impressed (and overwhelmed) by all the entries I received for my very first Sugar High Friday. Jennifer of the Domestic Goddess graciously let me take on the duties for this month, and I hope I'll do an adequate job at showcasing all the wonderful ways you have come up with to use spices! I am truly impressed by all the creativity and talent out there, and am glad to have gotten the chance to meet all these other sweet bloggers!

Onward to the first part of the round-up!

Sailaja of Sailu's Kitchen made two dishes for SHF!  Semiya Payasam ~ Vermicelli Kheer

 

and Rava Laddu ~ Sweet Semolina Balls. I love the vibrant colors!

 

Shavedicesundays of Shaved Ice Sundays created this Jujube Rice Pudding with Cinnamon and Honey - so seasonal and so yummy!

Hannah of BitterSweet baked up these intriguing  Autumnal Wattleseed Muffins - I'm especially liking the square shape!

 
Zita of Simplicious made this absolutely beautiful Hummingbird Cake.

 

Andrew of Eating Leeds used one of my favorite flavor combinations in his Chocolate Chili Fudge Cake.

 

Y of lemonpi came up with these Baked Mandarin Custard with Mandarin and Hazelnut Soldiers  - I love the name and the flavors!

 

Ning of Heart and Hearth used one of my favorite fruits to make these Strawberry Muffins.

 

Shari of Whisk got a head start on Halloween with her Pumpkin Chai Tart.

 

Dita of Yummy! My Culina Sanctuarium shares her Favorite Boiled Fruit Cake.

 

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen makes one of my favorite fall desserts, Spiced Pear Galette

Laura of Food Diaries of a Concubine created some Quince and Cardamon Breakfast Buns, which I am now craving!

Lori of Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness thoroughly embraces the spice with her Triple Ginger Cookies.

Heather of Diary of a Fanatic Foodie made a Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cranberry Bourbon Sauce, a fab dish for the holiday table.

Arfi of HomeMadeS created these divine-looking Churros con Chocolate.

Gretchen of Canela & Comino made a wonderful, heady-sounding Wine Cake.

Rachael of I Eat the World sent in these lovely Sweet Potato Pikelets with Spiced Sauteed Pears - now I've learned about pikelets!

Kristen of Something Sweet must be a shortbread lover like me, her Brown Sugar Shortbread sounds delicious!

Helen of Tartelette made these absolutely adorable Bittersweet Chocolate Cardamon Cupcakes.

Sunshinemom of Tongue Ticklers shared the joys of the Swedish Tea Ring with us.

Dana of Dulcedo tempted all pumpkin lovers with her Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies.

 

Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf put a spin on an old favorite with her Orange Cardamon Monkey Bread.

Kelly of Sass and Veracity added some Southwestern spice to the mix with her Chocolate Chipotle Cakes with Tomatillo Sauce and Cream.

Jude of Apple Pie, Patis, and Pâté submitted a truly elegant fall dessert - Pumpkin Pavé - Spiced Pumpkin Filling on Streusel.

 

Anne of A Foodie Froggy in Paris made a Tart Tatin with Pears and Aniseed Honey-poached Quinces - all that fruit sounds so delectable!

 

Kay of Salubrious Tryst made these cleverly named Acronym Muffins - go find out what's in them!

Maryann of Finding La Dolce Vita has the perfect Halloween treat: her spooky Bones of the Dead.

Bharti of Veggie Foodist contributed a lush and light Eggless Vanilla Apple Cake.

Caitlin of Engineer Baker sent in some really yummy Double Cinnamon Pecan Biscotti, all ready for dunking.

Zhulaiha of epicurean escapism serves up the best of fall with her Apple Crumble Bars.

Freya of The Cocoa Lounge goes for an Asian twist with her Coconut and Lemongrass Truffles

Meeta of What's for Lunch, Honey? sent in a beautiful jewel-toned Spiced Chocolate & Orange Bread.

Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy is all set for the holidays with her Pumpkin Cheese Pie with Toffee and Caramel Swirl.

Judy of Judy's Gross Eats also made two dishes: A lovely Gingerbread with Crystallized Ginger

 

and a tempting Spicy Pumpkin Custard. Beautiful job!

Elizabeth of Cake or Death? got a perfect shot of her lovely Chocolate-Chile Souffles with Cardamom Creme Anglaise.

 

Deeba of Passionate About Baking submitted a Glazed Prune Cake - I am as impressed by the cake as the props!

Janne from The BIte Size does her first SHF with an amazing Orange Carrot Cake with Chili Pepper, Thyme and a Citrus-Ginger Icing.

Hanne of Freshly Made tempts us all with her very photogenic Apple Cake with Spices.

Retno of Kedai Hamburg gave us her Banana-Choco-Walnut and Sultana bread - full of everything that's delicious!

 

Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen in English made White Chocolate and Pecan Spice Friands  - I have a weakness for financiers so I'll have to try these!

Minh of Couture Cupcakes baked up some beautiful Peanut Butter and Banana Cupcakes with Five Spice - a very interesting combination!

The second part of the round-up will follow next week - I'm sorry I couldn't fit you all in, but for everyone who's not in the first part, rest assured you'll be hearing from me this weekend!

Also, if any of the links or information in this post is wrong, let me know and I'll correct it right away!

Finally, just another little tidbit about my book  - I don't mean to bring it up in every post, but I wanted to let all your readers know that Field Guide to Cookies is being featured on Bust, and they are giving away 10 copies of my book! All you have to do it fill in the online entry form. I believe the contest ends November 5th so enter now!

Have a great weekend!

Comments

[Aimee]

I can't get over this round-up! People turned out in fine form for your "spices" theme. Can't wait to see the second half (with my entry :) ) soon!
Great job of presenting, BTW.

[retno]

Great round up anita. All entries look sooo delicious!

[Deeba]

What a nice & spicy round-up this is Anita...love it. Quite the perfect combination this fall...can't wait to see round 2!

[Judith]

Wow, this looks fabulous! I was looking forward to this roundup not so much because I contributed but because I just love spices.

[Dana McCauley]

Holy moly! That is indeed a staggering number of sweets. After the halloween candy I've just eaten, even looking at this many sweets makes me higher than a kite!

[Rosa]

Such a great roundup! Everything looks fantastic and really scrumptious!

Cheers,

Rosa

[Verena]

It's still hot in Hong Kong, but seeing all these delicious photos of autumnal sweet treats sure makes me miss fall in the Bay Area!

[Aparna]

Sugar and Spice and everything nice...........
Can't wait for the next part.

[clumbsycookie]

Thanks for spicing up our lives!!! Wonderful round-up!

[kellypea]

This is an amazing round-up. What a job you've done on it, Anita! Now on with the visits and bookmarking, right?

[Hannah]

What wonderful creations, I can't wait to see Part Two! Thanks for all of you work putting together this round up. :)

[Aran]

they look fantastic! great job hosting this event anita!

[Patricia Scarpin]

What a delicious round up, Anita! Great job, darling!

[sunshinemom]

So many tasty entries! I am off to check up some of the recipes - thanks for the awesome roundup, Anita.

[Asianmommy]

They all look soooo good! I'd especially like to try the pear galette.

[maryann]

Wonderful roundup! :)

[Angela]

Fantastic round-up, Anita! It's going to take me ages to work through everyone's posts, but it'll be such fun!