Mothers' Day Duo: Matcha Orange Pots de Creme and Orange Carrot Ginger Cake

To all of the moms out there: Happy Belated Mothers' Day!  Here's my duo of desserts for you on your (though belated) special day--one dessert that's completely healthy and one that's completely indulgent, just the way it should be. :-)

Years ago, when I was in third grade, my mom became a vegetarian, and so from a fairly early age, I grew up in a meat-free household (which I didn't entirely mind, since I'm pretty picky when it comes to meats anyways).  Meat free, though, didn't mean dessert free in any sort of way, but my mom, over the years, has been experimenting and trying out desserts that are egg- and dairy-free as well.  This orange-carrot-ginger vegan cake is our hands down favorite.

Trust me when I say that, though this cake is vegan, it rivals even the best of the full-on dairy and egg cakes.  It's super moist and perfectly dense, with the spiciness of ginger and the sweet tartness of orange.  I like to have it sans frosting, with just a simple orange and maple syrup glaze and then piled as high as I can with mandarin orange slices.

As much as my mom loves this cake, though, part of me is convinced that she's always slightly annoyed whenever I make it.  For some reason, I always insist on topping the cake with a fresh cut orchid flower, which means stealing a precious blossom off of one of her orchid plants.  *smiles innocently.*  Granted, though, that I do buy her orchid plants for Mothers' Day, so I make up for it!  :-)

On the indulgent side, we have orange matcha green tea pots de creme, which are packed full of rich creaminess and the complete antithesis to the vegan cake.  The fragrant and slight bitterness of the matcha complements and balances out the hint of sweet orange in the cream really well--I definitely liked how this combination turned out.  These pots de creme made a great pairing with the fresh and earthy carrot cake, too, since the texture of the carrots and walnuts in the cake helped enhance the creaminess of the pots de creme.

I hope everyone had a wonderfully lovely Mothers' Day.  I always feel as if on Mothers' Day, we shouldn't merely limit our thanks and appreciation to our own mothers, but also we need to recognize all of the women who have helped us through our lives and given us motherly guidance and advice.  The older I get, the more I realize that the truth that it takes a whole village to raise a child, and all of you motherly-s out there need a extra special shout-out of thanks!  Here's wishing I could send a duo of desserts to all of you!

And, of course, to my own mom-- thanks.  :-)  And sorry I steal all of your orchids.

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Farmer's Market Obsessions: savory tarts and fresh strawberries

Today's post is going to be short and sweet.  And savory.  I hope you don't mind.  Because, it sort of looks like this outside right now, and I want to be sitting under that tree:

Yes, after more rainy days than we've gotten in the past few years (though, we needed it!), it's finally been consistently sunny and gorgeous for the last week or so--while, ironically, I've been longingly gazing out the window and being stuck inside for work.  When the weather is this good (think not-to-hot days and mild, jacket-less nights), I start hankering after more and more spring and summer fruits and vegetables and constantly finding every opportunity and free minute to hang out at farmers' markets.  Hence, today I bring you my ideal farmers' market meal: a caramelized onion, goat cheese, and heirloom tomato buckwheat thyme quiche/tart finished off with a lemon curd cream and strawberry pavlova.  Oh spring/summer, how I adore thee.

I call this tart a tart/quiche, because it's really a tart but with a layer of egg on top to hold everything together.  There's a healthy handful of fresh thyme baked into the buckwheat crust, which makes a super-flavorful base for the tart/quiche (quirt? tarche? tuiche?).  Then, there's a thick layer of caramelized red and sweet yellow onions sitting on the bottom, topped off with a lighter layer of creamy egg, thick yogurt, and goat cheese.  I also love these mini heirloom tomatoes on the tart, which impart tiny little bursts of fresh and juicy flavor to the deep and dark onions sitting underneath.  Pair with a spicy arugula salad for extra om nom nom.

For dessert: lemon curd cream pavlova with fresh organic strawberries.  Though I've learned that pavlova is probably one of the hardest desserts to make look pretty on film, I've also learned that it is one of the best, lightest desserts for the springtime.  Those Australians/New Zealanders (or whoever invented it first) were geniuses.

 Though the highlight of this dessert was supposed to be the sweet and tiny organic strawberries lightly macerated in vanilla sugar and lemon juice, I have to say--and everyone who had this dessert agreed-- that the lemon curd cream stole the show.  I'm going to the record for this: if you haven't had lemon curd cream, you haven't lived at all. And I will swear by that.  The concept is super simple, just tart lemon curd folded into sweet whipped cream, but sometimes, the simplest things are just the best.  I literally ate it by the spoonful out of the bowl, and I didn't have a spoon large enough.  Top the crunchy-outside, soft-inside pavlova meringue with the lemon curd cream and fresh strawberries, and you have a gorgeous-springtime-weather-worthy dessert.

Okay, I'm off to find some excuse to enjoy more of this gorgeous weather!  Too bad there's no more of this lemon curd cream sitting in the fridge....


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