Hi! I'm Sam (on the left, btw). I live to make dessert. I also used to drink Coke at breakfast as a kid. It's a miracle I have any teeth. 

Cinnamon and cardamom are in my blood (my parents are from Sri Lanka but if someone asks me where I’m from on the subway I usually say Connecticut) and I think that pears make every dessert better.

I've been a food editor at Good Housekeeping, Fine Cooking, and most recently Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, but now I'm very happily working on my first cookbook! It's called The New Sugar and Spice: A Recipe for Bolder Baking and will be available from Ten Speed Press in September. I'm also a freelance recipe developer and food stylist, should you need one of those things. 

As for the name Love, Cake:

Wouldn't everyone like to receive a letter from Cake signed with love? I know I would. 

Love Cake also happens to be the name of a heavenly Sri Lankan confection made with semolina, cashews, honey, and spices. I learned to make it years ago with my grandmother and her cook, Tikiri, while sitting on my little blue bench in their kitchen in Sri Lanka. I think of that experience as the beginning of my baking career. There was a lot of love in that cake.

Thanks so much for visiting!