Rosewater Buttercream

I’ve been tinkering with the proportions in this Rosewater Buttercream recipe for years.  I first made it as part of a lemon curd filled white cake for Easter.  It was delicious but the buttercream was too sweet, a bit grainy and the rosewater flavor overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the cake. I had all but given up on making this recipe “blogworthy” but then I was helped by some divine intervention.

Continue reading “Rosewater Buttercream”

Violet Lemon Curd

Every year I try to make something really special with the first spring violets. For the last few years I have attempted to make a violet curd but it always failed, losing its amethyst color and turning gray when I heated it. And since there are a limited number of violets in my yard/neighborhood, I really only get one shot at it a year!

Continue reading “Violet Lemon Curd”

Lilac and Violet Panna Cotta Tart

Every year I make violet jelly just like my mom taught me when I was a girl. But because the season is so brief and the color of the violet tea is so divine, I’m always looking to make something new and different with the foraged flowers. Last year it was Violet Lemonade, the year before that was Violet and Elderflower Gummies.

Continue reading “Lilac and Violet Panna Cotta Tart”

Caramelized Spruce Tip Syrup

Why Spruce Tip Syrup?

During all those walks around the neighborhood gathering violets and dandelions for jelly, I started to notice that baking inspiration literally grows on trees around here.  There are lilacs, redbuds and magnolias galore.  They all have edible parts but I was all flowered out.  Then I happened to see a post from Once Upon A Weed about spruce syrup and remembered there’s a spruce growing in the parkway just a few blocks from here.  It’s about 40 feet tall and absolutely covered in itty-bitty spruce tips. Continue reading “Caramelized Spruce Tip Syrup”

Creamy Violet Sorbet

Creamy Violet Sorbet

I’m always trying to think of new ways to serve up the gorgeous amethyst color of spring violets. This creamy violet sorbet is gorgeous. It looks gorgeous and it tastes gorgeous. This is technically a sherbet (a sorbet with added dairy) but since I can never figure out how to pronounce the word sherbet, I’ve decided it’s a creamy sorbet. It’s just the right amount of tart and sweet with a little floral kick of rosewater. Just like the violet lemonade and violet jelly, it’s the color here that makes it so special.

Continue reading “Creamy Violet Sorbet”

Violet Jelly

Along with the lovely tradition of making dandelion jelly in the spring, I also grew up with violet jelly. As a girl it took a lot of time to gather the hundreds of flowers needed to fill my mom’s pint jar. It often involved walking with my sister to parks and lawns that were further from the house than we were used to roaming. It was an adventure. Continue reading “Violet Jelly”

Violet Lemonade

Every spring, my kids and I make violet jelly. Walking through the neighborhood on one of those rare spring days where it’s warm in the sun and cool in the shade and picking violets is a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Yesterday when we were making our jelly for the year, my youngest asked if we could make violet and dandelion candies. I’m still working on that…but it did remind me that last year we made some bonkers-good violet lemonade and I never posted the recipe. Which is awfully selfish. So here you go!

Continue reading “Violet Lemonade”

Dark Chocolate Tart with Espresso Whipped Cream

I totally fan-girled last week when I realized my pastry chef crush David Lebovitz had pinned my Earl Grey Lavender Lemon Tart.  To celebrate, I wanted to create a fresh take on the cream-topped tart.  You know those amazing dreams you have when you can fly?  This Dark Chocolate Tart with Espresso Whipped Cream is what your morning coffee dreams it can do.  A chocolate crust, not-too-sweet dark chocolate filling topped with luscious swirls of deep espresso flavored whipped cream.  It’s rich and it’s elegant.  In my house, it’s also breakfast. Continue reading “Dark Chocolate Tart with Espresso Whipped Cream”

Realistic Rock Cookies

These realistic rock cookies are so fun and surprisingly straightforward and forgiving to create! Once your cookies are baked and dipped in royal icing, you dilute food gel dye in vodka and just sweep, dot and stripe the cookies willy nilly. The surface of the icing is eaten away by the vodka, roughening the surface. These would be a great gift for the rockhounds in your life, or people you secretly think should eat rocks. Win-win!

Continue reading “Realistic Rock Cookies”

Chocolate Ganache and Red Currant Tart

Fancy Foraging

I love to forage in my urban neighborhood for yummy things I can bake up into an elegant dessert. I’ve foraged violets, spruce, dandelions, and maple leaves in an area of just a few blocks of my home. My mom, who lives on a wonderful piece of land with oodles of amazing edible plants, had some red currants growing and offered some to me. I made them into this simple jam used it to cover a foolproof chocolate tart. Topped with a just-right layer of stabilized whipped cream and dusted with cocoa, this Chocolate Ganache and Red Currant Tart has lovely visual appeal and tastes incredible. I shared with the neighbors and received several texts that simply said, “Grooooaaannnnn” and “Good Lord!” I think that means they liked it.

Continue reading “Chocolate Ganache and Red Currant Tart”