You do not have to grow burdock to make this cake. Burdock root is sold as gobu in Asian markets or farmers markets. But you do need it to be fresh. It looks like a white carrot, which I think is why I decided to try it here in this carrot nut torte. The recipe is inspired by my favorite baker, Maida Heatter from her Book of Great Desserts. I substituted 1/3 of the grated carrots for grated burdock root, changed the lemon juice to orange juice and added vanilla. In Maida’s recipe she glazed the cake. I don’t think it needs it but on the other hand I also think it would be amazing with a frosting cream cheese or just plain vanilla.

I hope you have burdock root to use. If you do, please let me know how you use it in your cooking and especially if you make this cake! xoxo

truffles for the memory

truffle ingredients

rosemary remembrance truffles

bite sized delicious

Perhaps.

Shakespeare, Hamlet
Act 4, Scene 5
Ophelia: There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember; and there is pansies, that is for thoughts… There’s fennel for you, and columbines, there’s rue for you and here’s some for me; we may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays. O you must wear your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they wither’d all when my father died. They say he made a good end. – (sings) “For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy”

Ophelia’s rambling, somewhat confused speech refers to symbolic flower associations all related to the circumstances surrounding her father’s death. She begins with rosemary it seems, not for memories, but because she knows that it along with the other plants she mentions help to relieve pain of the heart. Her reference to remembrance translates to an English funeral tradition where those grieving laid rosemary bunches onto their loved one’s coffins as a symbol that they would never forget.

I’m not sure how the idea that rosemary will help with memory retention or recall became so intertwined with this quote, but tradition and modern science support it. Rosemary’s chemical constituents increase the uptake of cellular oxygen in the brain to support and stimulate memory. Herbalists know it as a vital formula ingredient for mental clarity.

I invite you to do your own experiment. You can easily make these truffles; the hardest part is collecting the herb powders. I promise the research will also be delicious.

Last, as I write this, the current world chaos and constant tragedy pull my heart to sadness over and over. I identify with Ophelia’s madness, despair, and grief. I’m not sure what else there is to say.

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two dozen basil leaves

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Ever wonder why summer produces so much zucchini? If you grow a vegetable garden or, like me, receive a weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) box from a local farm, it seems like a logical question when this vegetable just keeps emerging. My curiosity lead me to explore and here’s what I found:

Zucchini grows in any type of soil, needs no extra attention, and easily pollinates. One plant will produce lots of flowers, which translates to lots of fruit. It also will keep producing more and more as the zucchini is harvested.

Inevitably, if you read food literature, you will see an article giving ideas for what to do with abundant zucchini. This summer, I tested a few new recipes. I listened tp an interview on The Splendid Table podcast with Skye Gyngell, a chef who just released a cookbook titled Spring. She described her Slow-cooked Zucchini with Tarragon as being her restaurant staff’s favorite. Look for the recipe on the Splendid Table’s website and if you don’t already, try listening to this podcast, I think you’ll love it. I also made a few different types of zucchini pancakes or fritters.

I try to love zucchini, but my truth can not be denied. It leaves me feeling meh. However, baking converts zucchini to my favorite vegetable. This zucchini loaf inspired by my self-proclaimed baking mentor, Maida Heatter from Maida Heatter’s Cakes actually inspired me to want more zucchini.

A best friend visiting told me she felt addicted to this zucchini bread like a drug. I’m not sure if that’s good, but I understand and I also would like to believe it’s because of my secret basil addition.

nettle walnut pesto

steamed nettles

pesto ingredients

second stage pesto

garden nettles just picked

Nothing says spring more loudly than fresh stinging nettles.

gluten free chocolate chip cookies

recipe planning with tulsi

tulsi chocolate chip chickpea flour cookies

These cookies were inspired by: http://www.valisesetgourmandises.com/vegan-chickpea-flour-chocolate-chip-cookies/#.WN_VyCMrJO0

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that

Making these cookies triggered a contemplative moment for me. Of course, people love baking cookies because they taste delicious. But, perhaps more critical, cookies blend up in no time and super easily. Ok, I know that’s no great revelation, but I’ve never truly got that before, like in my soul.

I’ve been baking cakes for my “becoming a better baker project” and they take a lot of time. Cakes also use large amounts of sugar, butter, eggs, and flour. When I took a break from the project and baked these cookies with none of the aforementioned ingredients and in literally under 30 minutes, I experienced an instant cookie love. I felt it in my soul, easy and delicious, not to mention frugal and sustainable, but that also relates to ingredient choices. (Click here if you would like to read more about my project.)

I’ve also decided cookies champion powdered herbs better than any other herb form like tea, syrup, extractions etc. Teas, syrups, honey seem to disrupt batter proportions creating liquid imbalances. Concentrated extractions are added in such small amounts, you may not even know they are there. There may be solutions, but I’m still working them out.

So, two discoveries in one cookie, I like that. Still in progress… uncovering ultimate ways to bake with alternative flours, sweeteners, and moistening ingredients.

extracting supplies

organic grain alcohol

herbs for tincturing

I’m no alchemist, wizard or craft brewer but concocting my own extracts feels magical. The endless possibilities add wonder and mystique. And it’s so easy. The two most difficult steps in making tinctures are obtaining the supplies and patiently waiting. There’s a bit of measuring, but otherwise it’s as simple as filling a jar.

As an herb infuses in alcohol, the alcohol pulls out many of the plant’s chemicals, also called phytochemicals or phytonutrients. This creates a tincture or concentrated source of an herb’s beneficial components so just a few drops is all that’s needed in contrast to a whole cup of tea, for example. This is an advantage especially for herbs that don’t taste great, like bitters.

Craft bartenders and mixologists long ago discovered the vast virtues of bitters. At first, bitters were added to rum or other spirits to help relieve nausea and other digestion problems. It was an especially easy way to get sailors to take them. Over time, they have become key ingredients, often referred to as a cocktail’s salt and pepper. Bitters provide the perfect finish, blending and enhancing the elements of a complex drink. A skilled bartender knows that if a drink is flat or missing something, the answer is always to add bitters.

Bitters are the reason a cocktail is referred to as an aperitif or digestif. In herbal medicine, bitters are the go-to way of improving digestion. My teacher, on the first day of class, gave us five remedies that could be given to virtually anyone and make them feel better. Bitters was on this list.

I believe bitters tinctures have a place in baking similar to that of cocktails. We already use extracts like vanilla, almond, or lemon to intensify flavors. Bitters extracts can balance and round out sweetness, moderate richness, add aromatic spiciness, unite contrasting flavorings. They blend well with citrus, honey, and floral tones. They mix in with fats and provide a bit of acidity. All this and help digestion, too.

I picked these three herbal blends to tincture for their bitter qualities and to experiment with their flavors in baking. It’s going to take a while to continue because tinctures must infuse for about 4-6 weeks. Stay tuned for recipes to follow.

It would be a great time to start some of your own..please do and let me know!

syrup ingredients

syrup straining

blueberry lemon verbena syrup

Lately, I feel a winter obsession for infused fruit syrups. Maybe I’m searching for a ray of sunshine from the berries or a spark of spring sweetness or maybe I’m craving antioxidants and strong flavors. I’m also finding that using a strong herb infusion (translation: herbal tea) as a base adds more depth and enhances the fruit’s flavor. I’m still working this all out and creating ways to use the syrups. For this one the ideas come easily…pancakes and waffles, smoothies, ice cream topping, blended into yogurt or oatmeal. Such a great way to add sweet without a lot of sugar!

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

turmeric blackberry blonde brownies

turmeric infused butter

blackberry turmeric syrup

turmeric stained parchment

plate of blonde browines that look brown

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

I’ve asked myself several times whether to share this obscure and surprising recipe. Vacillating between yes sometimes no, obviously yes won. My hesitation stems from worry that a recipe’s visual merit reigns imperative for food blogging, recipe websites and social sharing. Recipes you can almost taste through your phone or laptop that spark interest and create beautiful food preside as normal.

While visual food culture isn’t actually new, I nevertheless wonder how a beautiful picture assures taste. Obviously it cannot and does not. How can a mouthwatering photo guarantee the recipe will work well and the result will resemble that photo? My own failures have led to my skepticism. I now know of endless filters and edits that can make anything look better. I have experienced the temptation and witnessed the ease to accomplish with no photography experience required.

I also deliberate on perfection. My own imperfect recipes still taste good. Ultimately we bake for the pleasure of others, those we care about. I keep returning to the belief that if people you love eat and enjoy what you make, then that could define perfect. No matter the visual masterpiece.

I made these brownies because I wanted to bake using a delicious blackberry turmeric syrup I had recently concocted. I decided to add more turmeric thinking it blends well with fat. Traditionally in Ayruvedic medicine, turmeric and ghee combine into a restorative remedy. With multitudinous health and wellness benefits why not add turmeric in higher amounts. This recipe uses syrup whisked into melted butter so I infused the butter with turmeric while it was melting. But I added a lot, perhaps too much. The butter turned deep yellow almost orange which differed from adding turmeric to the blackberry syrup, it had not changed that color. I suppose purple covers yellow better and adding yellow to yellow just makes it more yellow. I imagine there is science to this and I wonder how chefs tackle strong color-changing ingredients like turmeric when they create.

Returning to my posting hesitation…these brownies while flawed, taste delicious. Depending on the light, they look either brownish green or greenish yellow, neither all that appealing and certainly not brownie-like. Otherwise, they are soft and cakelike with bites of chocolate, a bit rustic in flavor from buckwheat flour and different but pleasing. Additionally, the turmeric and blackberries transform them into healthy nourishment. But the ultimate outcome came from when my daughter said she loved them.
I wonder…would you try them? Please send me a message and tell me.

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

Syrups, ok they contain sugar and they’re sweet but preparing your own puts you in control over how much to add. After experimenting with honey, I still think sugar (organic) makes the best syrup to use in baking. Honey syrup becomes amazing spoonful eating medicine, but is heat sensitive and more difficult to strain. This turmeric berry combination elevates this syrup high on the nourishing scale. My plans target this syrup for a cake but after tasting it, I had to share it all on its own with other uses. It embodies kitchen herbalism – easy, not time consuming to make, no fancy ingredients, wellness benefit multitudes, not to mention delicious. By the way, you could use less sugar or more turmeric depending on your personal preference. Here are some ideas for using:

Syrup:
Use as substitute for maple syrup or honey
Swirl into yogurt
Top ice cream
Mix into salad dressing
Use to sweeten whipped cream
Drizzle onto vegetables
Stir into coffee or tea to lightly sweeten
Use as ingredient in baked goods!

Berry puree:
Add to yogurt or cottage cheese
Stir into oatmeal at end of cooking.
Make a sauce for meats or chicken
Blend into smoothie or use as topping for smoothie bowl.
Use as topping for ice cream, frozen yogurt, or nice cream

Any more thoughts? Please comment below…

a-pure-spoonful

ashwagandha-panna-cotta

ashwagandha-root

making-ashwagandha-milk

pretty-dish

unmolded-panna-cotta

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

It’s easy to understand why there’s so much anxiety around. Today’s world presents a lot of food for the anxious heart. I fall prey to it for sure. I’m anti-medication for anxiety and depression; it feels like a band-aid when what’s needed is a cure. But still we have to get through the days, right? Any calming help is a blessing. Herbs can be that help. Ashwagandha is a perfect example and there’s so much more to this Ayurvedic princess than soothing nerves. It’s like you hit a gold mine. To get the whole benefit of some herbs, ashwagandha being one, you have to eat them. It’s a rich source of iron, a mineral vital to so many functions including building strong blood, which in turn helps with our vitality. If you take ashwagandha as a tincture, you don’t get the iron. In India, the home of Ayurveda, it’s traditionally boiled in milk with molasses. This panna cotta is my variation on that with the addition of saffron and cardamom to blend the flavor and add their own vital benefits.

red clover bonbons

red clover buds

herbal blend

powdered herbs

nut buttter and honey

ingredients in bowl

inside a bonbon

I think it’s hard to bake. It takes time, time that I don’t always have especially when there are piles of laundry to do, dogs to walk, a house to clean, writing and researching to do and it is enough that I feed my children breakfast lunch and dinner. And when I do bake, my results never look like the perfect pictures I see on Instagram and all the food blogs I follow. Sometimes I get frustrated, despite the time and money spent on ingredients, I throw it all in the garbage.

But I love to bake. I am not sure why. It may be the challenge, perhaps the result will be that success I have been waiting for, the breakthrough that makes me a talented baker. It may be the alchemy, for how can the mixing of simple ingredients produce such joy? Sometimes it just feels so good to work through all of the steps, therapeutic almost. And it’s interesting because people like to know what you are baking. I would love the day to come when it’s easier for me. Someone told me recently the key to enticing people to bake with herbs is to make it easy. So, there is my goal for myself and for others.

These bonbons are not actually baking, but they’re easy. The most labor intense part is rolling the dough-like batter into balls. But once finished, you’ll have a large supply of instant snacks that keep for a long time in the fridge.

gluten free rose chocolate chips

rose petals

rose petal tincture

inside a cookie

plates of cookies

rose hazelnut chocolate chip cookies

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

Granted, sometimes a recipe needs work. When I mixed together the first batter for these cookies I used almond flour and coconut sugar. I kept thinking that it looked too wet and dark but I hoped that after a short time in the refrigerator, it would bake up fine. As I carried the covered bowl of batter to the refrigerator, I became distracted with something I left on the counter and put the batter bowl down quickly on top of the washing machine, which was churning my Sunday laundry. Note: never do this. In a split second the glass bowl of batter was face down on the floor, shattered in millions of pieces, batter splashed everywhere. I admit, I began to cry as I cleaned it up. After about an hour collecting myself, I began again and in the end I believe it was divine intervention for the first was a batter that should not have been baked. The new one looked much better using organic granulated sugar and hazelnut flour (I did not have almond flour left). The final result these extremely delicate but totally scrumptious chocolate chip morsels, totally gluten-free. Perhaps an egg would have helped them to hold together and I plan to try them that way another day. For now, my children all approved, and that works for me just fine. Possibly the brightening spirits rose petals worked their magic.

cardamom kahlua cupcakes

plaintain flour

cardamom pods

cupcakes out of the oven

eating cupcakes

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

plate of cookies

ingredients

burdock infusing in honey

cookie close up

Baking carrot cake likely popularized during food rationing when savvy women cooked creatively for their families. In wartime especially, scarce sugar, among other ingredients, left bakers exploring substitutes and cleverly they turned to the garden. Carrots are notoriously sweet. About fifteen years ago, when the glycemic index gained influence as a tool for avoiding foods that could increase blood sugar, carrots were targeted creating confusion over the whole concept. How could vegetables be less a healthy choice than sugar? Reality proved the idea silly. Root vegetables are concentrated in carbohydrate because one of their basic functions is nutrient storage to maintain a plant’s life. So, yes, roots are sweet but phytonutrient packed sweet, obviously a stellar choice.

It makes perfect sense to bake with roots. Logic supports decreasing sugar by replacement with root vegetables. It is also a delicious way to elevate fiber, micronutrients and antioxidants. The combination of two sweet roots in these carrot burdock cookies emphasizes my Herbal Bake Shoppe vision. Purposeful baking for good taste, health, and benefit while incorporating herbs and vegetables or fruits. Bringing herbalism into the kitchen, discovering how pleasant it can be to eat plants.

I did not have fresh burdock root, only dried, so I infused it in honey to extract flavor and medicinal good, then mixed it with organic carrots from my CSA (community supported agriculture). Everyone raved about these cookies, which surprised me. But then I was happy.

In Japan, burdock root use parallels common carrots in the US. Some quick facts on burdock root: In Japan it is called gobo. This taproot resembles a long white carrot, but tastes similar to an artichoke. Perhaps the best known preparation of gobo is slicing to slivers and pickling in vinegar eaten as a side for sushi. It is also steamed as a vegetable, shredded or chopped for adding to stews, stir-fries or soups, and sliced into baked chips. A significant source of fiber and potassium, gobo has additional long history of traditional use as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and blood detoxifier. In the US, to purchase fresh gobo or burdock root, farmer’s markets or Asian grocery stores are the best bet. If dried burdock root is the only option make tea or try infusing it in honey to bake a cookie.

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

Chrysanthemum Cookie

Dried Chrysanthemum Flowers

Chrysanthemum Cookies

Chrysanthemum Cookie Bowl

Captivating flowers signify spring, summer, sunshine, and romance. There was a time when people spoke with flowers. If someone presented another a flower or a bouquet, they were communicating a message, a love note, or perhaps a dispatch not so positive. Today flowers still hold meaning, a breath of fresh air or a gift to brighten a gloomy moment, but I am fairly sure there are few people whom actually converse through them.

Many a medicinal plant includes the flower as part used. The white or yellow Chrysanthemum is one and its linguistic meaning is cheerfulness and optimism. My mentor, an acupuncturist and herbalist gave me a small sample of dried chrysanthemum flowers.

In Japan, chrysanthemum tea is a staple and considered to impart longevity and rejuvenation. I thought these flowers would go beautifully in a light and crisp sugar cookie. My son, who rarely relishes what I bake with herbs, admitted that these cookies, also grain free, tasted good and I saw him eating them all on his own. For me, that translates to cheerfulness. And optimism, to faith in myself and my herbal baking. So maybe these delicate flowers were speaking to me from their little container on my counter. I am glad to listen.

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to facilitate ease of purchase. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

Lavender Honey Chocolate Cake Slice

Lavender Honey Chocolate Cake Slice

Lavender Honey Chocolate Whole Cake

Making Lavender Honey

Dried Lavender Buds

Lavender Honey

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

When I was in college I obsessively bought cookbooks somewhat because cooking fascinated me and I dreamed of doing it well. I joined a book club that automatically sent a cookbook each month allowing you to send it back or keep it. One month I received Maida Heatter’s Book of Great American Desserts. I did not really want this book as I had never heard of her, but I missed the deadline to send it back, paid for it and it was mine. I had no idea that I had just purchased a baking treasure. Now I realize that there are many possible explanations for baking failures. Of course, the obvious is you did something wrong. But it may also be the recipe. Never ever when I bake from Maida Heatter’s recipes, do they disappoint. Each time they succeed, look right, and are delicious. She is a true master of cookbook writing and I am not the only one who so thinks. She has won many awards. One very smart food blogger dedicated a website to baking through step-by-step many of her cakes, breads, cookies, etc. http://madaboutmaida.blogspot.com/p/about-maida-heatter.html

She is a true inspiration and I hesitate to touch any of her recipes, but as I search for ways to make herbs taste good and incorporate them into life, I keep going back to her books as a guide for I trust them like no other.

The floral lavender addition peaks through the dense, rich flavor of this cake just barely imparting it a bit of mystery. If preparing the lavender honey, plan to make the honey about 2 weeks before making the cake so it is ready when the time comes to bake. (see note below)

Adapted from Maida Heatter’s Cakes (Robert Redford Cake)

Lavender Almond Truffles

Lavender Almond Truffles on Tray

Using herb powders rolled into bite-sized balls is a brilliant kitchen apothecary tool. Almost any herb can taste good this way. The wisest herbalists use these to acquaint those who are sensitive and discerning of palate, especially children, to a pleasant way of ingesting herbs.

Rosemary Gladstar, an amazing teacher known as the godmother of herbalism, offers the idea of herb balls in the books she has authored. These mix herbal powders into 2 parts nut butter with 1 part sweetener, honey or maple syrup, and are an inspiration to create your own favorite confection. It is true that many herbs are just not appealing to our penchant that leans toward the salty and sweet. They are bitter or sour or overly fragrant. But mix herbal powder with cocoa, peanut butter and honey and the flavor becomes tolerable, even delightful. For me, these also function as a filling and healthy quick breakfast or snack.

If any ingredient in the recipe does not suit your own tastes, feel free to make substitutions, different nuts, maple syrup for honey, or cinnamon instead of ginger. Let your preferences steer you through more eating of herbs.