Comments: Those of us blessed with a sweet tooth are mostly unaware of those not so blessed. But surely those dear souls want to bake, too. Riding to their rescue is pastry chef Mary Cech, who has developed a whole book of savory baking recipes (there is a tablespoon or two of sugar here and there, to bring out the other flavors, "much like salt"). The book introduces readers to baking with herbs, nuts, fruits, cheeses, mushrooms, meats, and garlic rather than chocolate chips and buttercream.

Chapters include quick breads (muffins, scones, biscuits, pancakes, crepes, waffles, and loaves); flaky pastries (short dough, pastry dough and pie pastry, and phyllo); rustics (cobblers, crumbles, betties, bread puddings, shortcakes, dumplings, and cheesecakes); "pastries with a puff" (soufflés, pate a choux, and popovers); cookies (soft, crispy, chewy, and flaky); and "the side show" (sauces, spreads, chutneys, and salads). Some of the cookie recipes might be construed as modestly sweet, being made with fruit, figs, and apricots, but in general they hew to the line of not sweet.

Even though blessed with a sweet tooth and quite capable of living our lives on the sweet side of the baking spectrum, we love having access to all these essentially new, creative savory recipes.