The Ephemerality of Spring

and my attention span

I am prone to obsession: about places (right now, the Ozarks), people (George Michael, always, but currently the rugby boys of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 - fascinating pod episode here), and most definitely hobbies (sewing, cross-stitch, macrame, etc etc etc basically nothing that pays my bills). My silly little dopamine-starved brain just lives for gobbling up the thrill of a new project, so the interest to obsession pipeline is a fast and furious one that typically ends as quickly as it began. If you follow me on instagram, you know that I literally could not shut the fuck up about candying fruit during the month of December. I will candy fruit again, because I do genuinely enjoy it, but I quickly lost my passion for cleaning a sticky stove and the piling mountain of jars of kumquats, mandarins, quince (every fridge purge: hey babe, you gonna use this Meyer lemon syrup in here?).

Because now I’ve moved on to candying FLOWERS. Mostly Magnolias, but also Cherry Blossoms, Forsythia, and very very soon Violets, Lilacs, Black Locust, Redbuds! I will candy them all.

I’m feeling particularly seduced by Magnolias, the queenly stature of the trees, the soft curves of its petals (sepals, technically), and it’s spectrum of romantic hues from snowy white to bubblegum pink to deep mauve. And the fact that they are prehistoric, pollinated by beetles because they existed before the evolution of bees! Wow.

It was only a few short years ago I learned that the petals were edible and tasted of ginger and cardamom, and look forward to their return every year. In England, the petals (sepals) are pickled to eat as a condiment, while in Korea, the buds are pickled and used to flavor rice and scent tea. In Japan, the young leaves and buds are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Older leaves are made into a powder and used as seasoning; dried, whole leaves are placed on a charcoal brazier and filled with miso, leeks, daikon, and shiitake, and broiled. There is even a type of miso (Hoba) made with magnolia, which sounds absolutely delicious. (paraphrased from scholarly journal Wikipedia).

My current favorite flavor combination (obsessed) has been rhubarb, yuzu, and magnolia. In my brain, Rhubarb goes with lemon —> yuzu would be an interesting substitution for that —> love yuzu and ginger together —> ginger and rhubarb sounds lovely —> circle closed!

So, I’m sharing a recipe for Magnolia Roasted Rhubarb, which I tucked into the layers of my cake orders this weekend, paired with almond yuzu poppyseed cake, yuzu curd, and fresh ginger buttercream (new favorite buttercream flavor, putting it on everything…obsessively).

I posted a quick tutorial for Candied Flowers on my instagram if you’d like a very whimsical high-reward, low-effort project this weekend:

sourbittersalty

A post shared by @sourbittersalty

Magnolia Roasted Rhubarb

6 medium stalks of rhubarb, about 13 ounces

160 g / 3/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon yuzu or lemon juice

Petals from 2 heads of magnolia

1 inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash the stalks of rhubarb, and cut into 2 inch long pieces.

2. Place into an 8x8 baking dish along with the sugar, yuzu juice, and the magnolia petals. Give a quick stir with a spatula to fully coat the rhubarb in sugar, and allow it to release its juices for about 15-20 minutes.

3. Place into preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, gently stirring about halfway through. The rhubarb is done when the sugar is dissolved and the rhubarb is just fork tender but still holding its shape - if cooked too long, it will fall apart (and still be delicious, just more of a compote).

4. Allow to cool to room temperature. Pull out the magnolia petals and ginger, or feel free to leave in.

Serve immediately over ice cream, in between cake layers, on your morning yogurt, whatever you fancy - or, store in an airtight container up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

magnolia roasted rhubarb in stages

I hope you and yours are enjoying spring - go on as many little walks as you can, as the fluffy clouds of blossoming branches will soon fade. Here is my spring walking playlist if you need some tunes to float around to.