Soulful Sweets Suiteby Chef Tara M. Jones

I preserve sweetness with the same attention I bring to the savory table. My Foundational Black American heritage and our family’s Southern roots shape this repertoire: sweet potato and pecan pies, benne seed wafers, tea cakes, puddings and the many ways we turn fruit into something worth gathering around.

Mom’s pastry craft runs through these pages. Her ultra-flaky pie crust sits beside the cakes, biscuits and other preparations that make our work a family undertaking. I want the hand behind the pastry to remain visible, as surely as the name of the dish.

This is a living archive of my cooking and our shared artistry. Family preparations, familiar Southern forms and personal interpretations belong here together, each named with care. Through them, I carry memory into the present and make room for what we will create next.