SUQAR by Greg Malouf and Lucy Malouf

Greg and Lucy Malouf have co-written eight cookbooks. The once married couple who divorced during the production of their first effort, Arabesque, manage to continue to make beautiful cookbooks together. The Maloufs’ books are excursions to the Middle East fueled by words, food and photographs. Each title has earned a spot on my bulging bookshelves.

Their latest, SUQAR: Desserts & Sweets from the Modern Middle East, will take your breath away, as it did mine. When I first received the book, I wrote my friend at Hardie Grant and stated “I just received SUQAR and I think I need to take a cold shower. This book is spectacular.” Books such as this one deliver an experience l wouldn’t likewise be likely to enjoy. With the Maloufs’ work, I am able to walk into my kitchen, gather a few ingredients and in no time at all enjoy a Turkish pretty eye cookie or any number of Middle Eastern delights. 

There are certain recipes that may require a trip to a Middle Eastern grocery or an order online but overall the recipes here are approachable and inspirational. I often joke that the universe doesn’t need another snickerdoodle recipe but we do need to (or at least I need to) wrap my heart around new cuisines and bring the world just a bit closer via my kitchen. 

This book is our baking option in The Eat Your Book Cookbook Club for February and has made my Best Cookbooks of 2018 and my Gift Guide for Cookbook Lovers. Present a copy of this stunner with a Ma’amoul mold and make a baker in your life happy. There are a variety of molds (which are optional for the Ma’amoul recipes) at Amazon.

Our   takes you inside this stunning book and features the following 

Special thanks to Hardie Grant for providing us with the materials for our preview and supplying three copies of this must-have baking title in our giveaway below. 

 

The publisher is offering three copies of this book to EYB Members in the US, UK, AU and NZ. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

Which recipe in the index would you try first?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on February 3rd, 2019.

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92 Comments

  • dadekian  on  November 29, 2018

    Turkish coffee petits pots with chocolate marshmallows sounds like something I would enjoy making.

  • AlexH  on  November 29, 2018

    Ma’moul cookies!

  • KarinaFrancis  on  November 29, 2018

    The chocolate halva ice cream (I also have all of their books and love them)

  • matag  on  November 29, 2018

    Bitter walnut cake

  • merkusje  on  November 29, 2018

    Date tiramisu, Middle Eastern style 

  • Dannausc  on  November 29, 2018

    Nectarine caramel

  • riley  on  November 29, 2018

    Rice pudding with burnt orange sauce

  • Puguppy  on  November 29, 2018

    Apricot-smartly fool

  • lpatterson412  on  November 29, 2018

    Strawberry rose pavlovas!

  • Aproporpoise  on  November 29, 2018

    oooh. Definitely the rice pudding!

  • Shelley.b  on  November 29, 2018

    rice pudding

  • HelenB  on  November 29, 2018

    Plum soufflé with cardamom and orange.

  • jr0717  on  November 29, 2018

    The date tiramisu

  • Lkitchings  on  November 29, 2018

    Roasted apricots with cinnamon brioche and toasted almond cream

  • tennyogirl  on  November 29, 2018

    Chilled watermelon with halva, crushed strawberries and lime syrup

  • FranSanchez  on  November 30, 2018

    Plum soufflé with orange and cardamom

  • vickster  on  November 30, 2018

    Baked Figs, sweet curd, honey and thyme

  • JRumi  on  November 30, 2018

    Rice pudding with burnt orange sauce

  • kmn4  on  November 30, 2018

    Turkish coffee petits pots with chocolate marshmallows

  • Rachelkg  on  November 30, 2018

    Rice Pudding!

  • sarahawker  on  November 30, 2018

    Rice pudding with burnt orange sauce

  • mpdeb98  on  November 30, 2018

    Apricot spoon fruits

  • lean1  on  November 30, 2018

    Rice pudding first!

  • janv  on  November 30, 2018

    Wild fig preserve with ginger and orange

  • Julia  on  November 30, 2018

    Arabic five spice pineapple with saffron ice cream

  • luccio  on  November 30, 2018

    Dates in cardamom coffee

  • BMeyer  on  November 30, 2018

    coffee meringue

  • kitchen_chick  on  November 30, 2018

    Sweet anise-olive oil tortas

  • LDjung  on  November 30, 2018

    Crystallised flowers

  • sb1  on  November 30, 2018

    coffee meringue

  • marsmomma  on  December 1, 2018

    I would make rice pudding with burnt orange sauce first, I love a good rice pudding!

  • jluvs2bake  on  December 1, 2018

    Pomegranate-lime jelly

  • dilsab  on  December 1, 2018

    would make apricot spoon fruits. my husband keeps asking me to make something like this and i never seem to get it right.

  • Ingridemery  on  December 1, 2018

    Saffron ice cream

  • zwetschgen  on  December 1, 2018

    Plum soufflé with cardamom and orange

  • TanyaD  on  December 1, 2018

    Chilled watermelon with halva, crushed strawberries and lime syrup

  • Jenamarie  on  December 1, 2018

    Arabic apricot doughnuts

  • jmay42066  on  December 1, 2018

    Liquorice panna cotta with roasted star anise plums

  • mrscahughes  on  December 1, 2018

    rice pudding

  • rchesser  on  December 1, 2018

    Liquorice panna cotta with roasted star anise plums! I love licorice.

  • Raele  on  December 1, 2018

    Lemon Curd Ma’Amoul

  • Kinhawaii  on  December 1, 2018

    Date tiramisu!

  • j_h  on  December 1, 2018

    Ooh, it all looks good – but Summer just started, so I think the cream cheese ice cream.

  • RickPearson54  on  December 1, 2018

    rice pudding

  • dbielick  on  December 2, 2018

    Honey mousse with pine nut praline and spiced pears

  • nadiam1000  on  December 2, 2018

    Salted bay-butterscotch ice cream

  • agentmnm  on  December 2, 2018

    Rice pudding with orange sauce

  • allthatsleftarethecrumbs  on  December 2, 2018

    Date tiramisu, Middle Eastern style.

  • Sfgordon  on  December 2, 2018

    I'd try Sesame biscuits with pistachios and sour cherries

  • ScottJWalter  on  December 3, 2018

    Persian Butter Fudge. 'Nuff said.

  • artthecat  on  December 3, 2018

    Date tiramisu!

  • RoseMGenuine  on  December 3, 2018

    Licorice panna cotta with roasted star anise plums! Oh I’ll have that with a coffee for sure!! I want this book!!

  • Uhmandanicole  on  December 6, 2018

    Plum soufflé with cardamom and orange

  • fionahw  on  December 7, 2018

    Strawberry-rose pavlovas

  • t.t  on  December 7, 2018

    Lemon curd ma’amoul

  • EmilyR  on  December 8, 2018

    Pomegranate-lime jelly

  • eatysmith  on  December 9, 2018

    Sweet anise-olive oil tortas!

  • thecharlah  on  December 11, 2018

    Little lemon-ginger syrup cakes

  • hillsboroks  on  December 13, 2018

    I would make the Rose-Lime Marmelade

  • jifar  on  December 15, 2018

    Rice Pudding with Burnt Orange Sauce

  • dtremit  on  December 15, 2018

    Rice pudding with burnt orange sauce as well!

  • RSW  on  December 17, 2018

    Chilled watermelon with halva, crushed strawberries and lime syrup

  • jezpurr  on  December 21, 2018

    Pistachio shortbread!!!^_^

  • elsid22  on  December 22, 2018

    Rice pudding w Burnt orange sauce

  • hilarycooks  on  December 22, 2018

    licorice panna cotta with roasted star anise plums AND the anise olive oil tortas (I love these so much – can't wait to make my own!!)

  • LaurenE  on  December 26, 2018

    Bitter walnut cake

  • kitchenclimbers  on  December 26, 2018

    date tiramisu

  • MiMi60  on  December 29, 2018

    Rice pudding with burnt orange sauce

  • lgroom  on  December 31, 2018

    Apricot smartly fool

  • ghill  on  January 1, 2019

    Where to start? Spiced Arabic coffee or Spanish hot chocolate until I can decide.

  • lou_weez  on  January 1, 2019

    I'd start at the beginning Chilled watermelon with halva, crushed strawberries and lime syrup and work my way through the book.

  • TrishaCP  on  January 1, 2019

    Bitter walnut cake

  • jenmacgregor18  on  January 2, 2019

    dates in cardamom coffee or date tiramisu

  • banba1  on  January 2, 2019

    Baked figs, sweet curd, honey and thyme

  • tarae1204  on  January 3, 2019

    Date custard tart

  • Amandaspamanda  on  January 4, 2019

    Strawberry-rose Pavlovas! Pavlova is so much fun to make!

  • Livia  on  January 6, 2019

    It has got to be the Plum soufflé with cardamom and orange ! cardamom, oranges ? what's not to like..

  • jd5761  on  January 9, 2019

    Date Tiramisu for me

  • Sand9  on  January 10, 2019

    Nectarine caramel sounds lovely x

  • fionajk42  on  January 10, 2019

    Kunafa with apricot and sweet cheese

  • edyenicole  on  January 17, 2019

    rice pudding!

  • Teruska  on  January 18, 2019

    I stopped at Baked figs, sweet curd, honey and thyme

  • ckbkcollector  on  January 19, 2019

    rice pudding

  • orchidlady01  on  January 26, 2019

    Rice pudding

  • percussion03  on  January 27, 2019

    Little raspberry-rose bakewells

  • starzine  on  January 29, 2019

    Nectarine caramel.

  • happybread  on  February 1, 2019

    Baby babas with confit lemon cream

  • choppergirl  on  February 2, 2019

    Date tiramisu, Middle Eastern style

  • tacoo  on  February 2, 2019

    Rice pudding with burnt orange sauce

  • FrenchCreekBaker  on  February 2, 2019

    Sesame biscuits with pistachios and sour cherries

  • erinrobinson  on  February 2, 2019

    Either the saffron–blood orange brûlée or rice pudding with burnt orange sauce.

  • rosalee  on  February 3, 2019

    The baked figs sound delightful!

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