Sweet creature engages artist (7)
I believe the answer is:
caramel
'sweet' is the definition.
(caramel is a kind of sweet)
'creature engages artist' is the wordplay.
'creature' becomes 'camel' (type of animal).
'engages' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'camel' going around 'ra' is 'CARAMEL'.
(Other definitions for caramel that I've seen before include "Chewy sweet - burnt sugar" , "Shade" , "Cooked sugar" , "Soft sweet" , "Browned syrup" .)