sweet miscellany

I’m drowning in mini bundts, scones, and a host of other baked goods over here. I’ve been tackling testing for the farmer’s market with full force lately and it has led to a pile up of baked treats. Though I don’t want to share any specifics yet, I will be able to offer a wide variety of gluten free/vegan baked goods at the market this year. I think I held off on testing last year as the market sort of happened without a lot of notice and I was doing good just to keep up from week to week.

Since there are a lot of sweet things laying about, tempting me to indulge, I started craving something light and refreshing. An impulse purchase at the store last week left me with a large, perfectly ripe organic mango. I could have eaten it straight up, but I went a bit further and made a mango lassi. If you’ve never had a lassi, it’s essentially an Indian yogurt drink sort of like a smoothie. It really only requires 3 ingredients, but I decided to amp it up a bit with a sprinkle of ground cardamom. I enjoyed it as a mid afternoon snack, but it can easily work for a light breakfast.
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Lemon desserts, and more specifically lemon bars, are another one of those things that I never really liked. The lemony flavor tasted artificial and they always left my sweet tooth less than satisfied. The color of lemon desserts seems to be a shocking (and unnatural) shade of yellow that is rather unappetizing. My grandmother would often bring a lemon poppy seed bundt cake when she would come to visit and though I would eat it, I would secretly wish it was her famous tollhouse bars or apple pie.

Well, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own lemon bars. I wanted to take something that I didn’t particularly like and see if I could transform it into something I could really enjoy and get behind. This seems to have been a theme as of late. First the soup, then the doughnuts, and now these bars. I decided to modify a recipe I created for the winter issue of Chickpea since it had worked so well for me in the past. And, because lemon desserts tend to make me think of my grandmother, I added in a bit of Earl Grey tea as she loved drinking a spot of tea.

These bars are tangy and refreshing without weighing you down. The lemon flavor tastes fresh, not artificial, and there is no unsightly yellow hue to speak of. The slight Earl Grey flavor gives them a special touch, making them a bit more elegant and suitable for high tea. Though I’m still hanging on to whatever cold weather we can get, these made me briefly long for a bit of sunshine and warm spring weather.
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Cardamom & Coconut Mango Lassi

Earl Grey Lemon Bars