Category: Snacks

I don’t really think of myself as an inventive chef — most of what I do is just trying to find and share great recipes, with perhaps a little refining to my tastes. But I admit, I’m pretty proud of the flavor combination in the Dragonfruit Nebulae chocolates.

Kavi and I both find these addictive, and have been known to eat up every little bit of leftover chocolate in the bowl, on the cutting board, etc. White chocolate, dragonfruit, citrus, and white pepper.

If I were actually going to start a real candy-making business (not going to happen!), I’d kick it off with bars of this.

Recipe here: https://serendibkitchen.com/…/dragonfruit-nebula-bars…/

I think I just call these chili-chocolate roses in the shop, but I feel like they want a name. Fiery Love? Burning Love? Blazing Love?

Although it’s just a hint of chili, really, so it’s not so fierce as all that.

I thought I needed some better product photos, so I tried to take some while making the items for last week’s flash sale. Passionfruit marshmallows.

(It’s late; I may be gettting a little punchy.)

Late night marshmallow making definitely makes me feel like a kitchen witch.

I have been more scattered than usual lately, and as a result, completely forgot to label my spring Patreon treats before sending them out. But this was what ended up in the Earth treat boxes:

• one iced vanilla sugar cookie
• two lime & white chocolate shortbread cookies
• one strawberry marshmallow
• two pieces of Sri Lankan cashew milk toffee
• one mini chocolate fudge bundt cake with chocolate ganache
• one piece of Sri Lankan love cake
• one chocolate-tamarind scone
• one little bottle of redbud syrup (nice on pancakes or in cocktails / mocktails; store in fridge for up to 6 months)
• one mehndi tea light (not made by me, but so cute)
• one bar of handmade soap
• one lavender heart sachet
• one resin pendant / necklace

Whew! There’ll be some more items in the higher tier boxes that I’ll send out next week, but at least for now, I’m suspending the higher tiers, as they were getting a little complex for me to manage and cutting into writing time. So just Earth tiers right now — $10 / month gets you a treat box 3 times / year. The next box will ship around September / October.

(And in theory, you can request just food items if you’d prefer and I’ll put in more of those, but I completely forgot to do that with Dawn‘s this time, sorry, Dawn! I was losing my mind a little bit the last few weeks…)

One of the interesting aspects of working with edible flowers is the question of ‘what does edible mean, exactly?’ There are lots of plants where if you consume a large amount, it may make you ill, but a few petals won’t hurt you at all.

I’m not a doctor, or an herbal expert, so generally if you see me using flowers in cooking, please don’t take it as an assurance that you can just go ahead and cook with them willy-nilly — do your own research! And please take extra care if you’re pregnant.

But all that said, a few petals of mountain bluet (centaurea montana), considered an astringent herb, are lovely on a lime & rosewater shortbread cookie, and according to Texas A&M University, the flowers are edible. I think you’d be safe scattering a few petals in a salad as well. I wouldn’t make a stir-fry from the plant, though!

“An astringent herb, its flowers have been used as an ingredient for eye ailments such as conjunctivitis and corneal ulcers as well as for minor wounds and ulcers of the mouth. Flowers are edible. Extracts of the plant are used in shampoos and conditioners. Dry flowers for pot pourris. Centaurea is named for Chiron, a centaur known for his herb knowledge and who first introduced Centaurea as a healing plant.”

https://aggie-hort.tamu.edu/…/pla…/Centaureamontana.html

Recipe here: https://serendibkitchen.com/…/lime-rosewater…/

The tamarind lends a complex fruity note to these chocolate scones, and the cayenne is just enough to leave a little heat on the tongue. You can, of course, skip the cayenne if you’d prefer!

(If you don’t have a mini scone pan, you can cut and shape these by hand, and bake on a regular baking sheet, placing them quite close together. If you pop them in the freezer for 30 minute before baking, they’ll hold shape better.)

2 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup cold butter

2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 T tamarind paste
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 t. cayenne
1/2 c. chocolate chips for drizzling

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray mini scone pan with Baker’s Joy (or butter and flour pan, which will be kind of a pain).

2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Chop butter in small pieces and cut into flour with a pastry cutter (or with your fingers) until mixture resembles coarse meal. (It’s fine to have small lumps.)

3. In a medium bowl, combine remaining 5 scone ingredients, beating eggs lightly. Pour into dry mixture and stir with a fork until a soft dough forms.

4. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times. Cut into 16 equal pieces and press into the cavities of the pan.

5. Bake 20-25 or until medium brown. Let cool 20 minutes in pan, then remove from pan to wire rack and cool completely. Serve warm, with coffee or tea.

6. Optional: Chocolate drizzle. Melt chocolate in double boiler on stovetop or on low power in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Drizzle chocolate (spooning it into a pastry bag or plastic bag with the tip cut off makes it easier) over the top, and let dry until set. (Or, if you want it more indulgent, dip the scones in melted chocolate!)