Spring always feels like a tea party time of year to me. I’m not sure why, I guess maybe it’s a delicate sort of season? I always seem to find myself throwing a tea party this time of year, regardless. (You can find a flower watching tea party in my Spring Equinox book.) It’s also one of the best times to eat outside, it’s just starting to get warm and sunny afternoons feel like a celebration already. What is interesting to me about this time of year is that none of the typical “spring” foods we associate with this time are actually ripe yet, at least not where I live. The asparagus have not poked up yet, no strawberries, and rhubarb is just starting to unfurl. So how do we make seasonal food if none of those foods are ripe yet? Easy, we let go of what “should” be available and focus instead on what is available. Eggs are a huge symbol of spring and they are back in production, so they are a great food to feature. I also always crave deviled eggs this time of year. I think my body knows. Use jams and jellies from last season, or use the emerging flowers to make spring versions. Chickweed and spring greens are up and growing. I also used a lot of pink and green as they are undeniably the colors of spring in my mind.
Radish & Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
Tea sandwiches are a must at any tea party, and I love these triple decker stripy ones because they are simple to make and infinitely customizable. Just swap out the fillings for different color combinations! This works best with a dense thinly sliced bread, in gluten free breads there aren’t too many options, but I used to use “cocktail bread” when I could eat wheat.
Ingredients:
Radish Butter:
- a bunch of radishes
- a stick of butter, softened
- salt and pepper to taste
Dill Cream Cheese:
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- a handful of dill
- salt and pepper to taste
- sliced bread (three slices per 2/3 sandwiches)
- thinly sliced cucumbers
Method:
To make the radish butter:
Trim the roots and leaves from the radishes and throw them in a food processor. Blitz until chopped up and decidedly pink. You can do this by hand, but it won’t get nearly as pink. add in your butter, salt and pepper and blitz to combine. You can halve this recipe, but I like to eat it one toast so I make plenty.
To make the dill cream cheese:
Add the softened cream cheese and dill to the food processor and blitz until well incorporated and green. Again, you could do this by hand, but you won’t get the nice color that way.
Assemble the sandwiches:
Spread a thick layer of radish butter on a piece of bread. Top with another piece of bread. Spread dill cream cheese on that piece of bread and top with a layer of thinly slices cucumbers. Spread a thin layer of dill cream cheese on the remaining piece of bread and place it on top. (The two layers of cream cheese prevent the cucumber from making the bread soggy.)
Next, carefully slice off the crusts of the bread stack on all four sides with a serrated knife. Cut the crustless bread into neat even rectangles. (The number you can get depends on the size of your bread- usually 2 or 3.)
Top with a sprig of dill and serve!
Violet Tartlets
I made a no bake crust for these tartlets because I didn’t want to deal with pastry and I don’t recommend it– it caused all sorts of problems. The tarts were amazing though, so I do suggest making them, I would just use shop bought shells. The panna cotta layer is delicious on it’s own, but is next level with the violet jam. Panna cotta is one of those things that seems tricky to make but is actually dead simple. I do not have any violets yet, so this was last year’s batch of jelly. You could use any edible flower for this if something else is blooming or just use a fruit jam. I topped mine with deadnettles because I couldn’t find a single violet! (My kids later told me they found several…)
Ingredients:
- 12 pre-made tartlet shells
- 1/2 cup oat milk
- 1 cup coconut cream (just the solids from a can of coconut milk)
- 1 1/4 tsp unflavored gelatin (half a packet)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- violet jam (recipe follows)
- edible flowers for garnish
Method:
Prep the pre-made tart shells if needed.
Make the panna cotta:
Add the coconut cream and oat milk to a sauce pan and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Allow it to bloom for 5 minutes. It will look wrinkled and almost dry.
Turn the heat on to medium and stir until the gelatin is dissolved, about two minutes.
Add the sugar and salt and stir until the sugar is completely melted. At least another two minutes. Don’t let the mixture boil. Remove from heat and add the vanilla.
Pour the mixture into the tart shells leaving a little space for the jam. Pour any extra into greased ramekins– I had two in addition to my tarts. (There is going to be some variability depending on the size of your shells however)
Cover the tarts with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours.
Top with violet jelly and an edible flower.
To make violet jam:
- 4 cups violet flowers (just the flowers, try to remove the stems as much as possible)
- 3 3/4 cups boiling water
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 package powdered pectin
- 4 cups sugar
Rinse flowers and place in a heat resistant bowl. Pour boiling water over them, cover and allow to sit on teh counter for several hours.
The water will turn a deep blue as it steeps. Strain and reserve the liquid, pressing the flowers to extract as much color as possible. You should have 3 1/2 cups of violet tea.
Add the violet tea, lemon juice and pectin to a large sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. (The acid from the lemon juice will turn the mixture pinky- purple.)
Stir in the sugar and return to a rolling boil. Boil and stir for one minute.
Remove from heat. Ladle into 5 sterilized half pint jars with 1/4″ headspace. Screw on lids until fingertip tight. Keep refrigerated or process in a boiling water canner. (Process for 5 minutes.)
***Ensure that only collect flowers that have not been sprayed with chemicals***
Spring Deviled Eggs
I love deviled eggs and am also making different versions of them. This is one of all time favorites. It uses an icing trick to make the swirled colors. It looks complicated, but is simple. The colors come from beet powder and pesto– I used my wild greens pesto from my spring book, but you can use whatever is easiest. Cutting the eggs so they stand up instead of lengthwise makes them look a little more posh in my opinion. I love the little dusting of herbs too– it looks a little like a nest. Perfect for a spring party!
Ingredients:
- 12 hardboiled eggs
- 1/4- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I feel like this is a personal decision…)
- 1 TBS dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon red miso paste (you can use white if you prefer a mellower taste)
- salt & pepper to taste
- beet powder
- pesto or herby sauce
- chopped herbs
- plastic wrap
- piping bag
- large star tip
Method:
Peel and cut your hardboiled eggs in half and collect the yolks in a bowl.
Place your chopped herbs onto a place and dip the cut side of the whites into the herbs. Some will stick. Place them on a plate to await filling.
Next, add the mayo, mustard, miso and salt and pepper and mash everything together. My secret to getting a super smooth mixture is that I use a stick blender to really emulsify the yolks.
Divide the yolk mixture evenly into two bowls. To the first bowl add a teaspoon or two of the beet powder and mix until you are satisfied with the color.
To the other bowl add the pesto and blend. The pesto will add moisture as well as color, so go easy.
Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the counter and spoon a thick line of each color next to each other. Roll it up into a sausage and twist the ends closed. Meanwhile put a large star tip into a disposable piping bag. Snip one end of the yolk sausage open and place it into the piping bag.
Pipe rainbow swirls of the filing mixture into each egg white. Garnish with edible flowers as desired.
Scones with Faux Clotted Cream & Jam
This isn’t a recipe so much as a suggestion. Make or buy your favorite scones and serve them with jam and/or clotted cream. I used the redbud jelly from my spring book. I also made a vegan clotted cream using Gluterama’s recipe. It had the perfect texture but not quite the right flavor so I may experiment with it a little more. (It was good– it just didn’t have that intense richness of the real thing.)