Garden Wisdom Blog — Sweets and Treats

All kinds of pumpkins can be used to cook with to make this, our best pumpkin pie recipe. The best ones have the least interior fibre. We baked pumpkin pies after our 2018 squash trial using Galeux d’Eysines – and they were GOOD. Before you can use your pumpkin as an ingredient, it needs to be rendered down from a big orange fruit into usable pumpkin puree. One pumpkin will produce quite a lot of puree, so work in batches, and simply freeze any leftovers. We like to pour leftover puree into ziplock bags, which can then be stored in the...

Happily, as soon as the summer blueberry crop is ready and the markets are flooded with fresh blueberries, it’s also time to begin harvesting basil. Blueberry and Basil Ice Cream? That’s right! This recipe was the result of our in-house cooking club official Basil Challenge. Kristin brought this in, and everyone loved it. Ingredients: 600mL (2½ cups) fresh blueberries (frozen also works) 60mL (¼ cup) water 180mL (¾ cup) sugar 240mL (1 cup) milk 360mL (1½ cups) heavy cream 5 egg yolks 5mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract pinch of salt 30mL (2 tbsp) fresh basil leaves, minced Directions: Make a...

In high summer, when the basil crop is ready for harvest, drying and pesto production come to mind. But what about sweet basil treats? It might be surprising, but the strong flavour of basil, with its cinnamon undertones, combines nicely with citrus and sugar. In this form basil reveals part of its character that might otherwise remain hidden. This is a fairly basic sugar cookie recipe, but the addition of basil and citrus elevates it to a more sophisticated level. These Lemon Lime and Basil Sugar Cookies are sure to impress guests at summer parties. Ingredients: 250ml (1 cup) all-purpose...

Ah, the zucchini – the crop that keeps on giving and giving! By the fifth week of harvesting bundles of the tender fruits, you’ve had it in pasta. You’ve had them grilled. You’ve made zucchini bread. You’ve even tried the Masala Zucchini recipe! As tempers wear thin, and you begin to question the wisdom of planting five zucchini plants, it must be time to attempt Chocolate Zucchini Cake! While no specific health claims can be made about this indulgent dessert, it does produce one of the richest, chocolatiest, and most moist of all cakes imaginable. It is an easy recipe...

With the holiday season upon us, we felt that a cookie recipe was in order… This one incorporates coriander seeds – the fruit of the cilantro plant. Cilantro is super easy to grow, and really productive for those who want to harvest seeds. Our Coriander Cookie Recipe produces very crisp biscuits with a mild flavour that begs to be enjoyed with a hot cup of tea or coffee. They store well and remain crisp for weeks. Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies. 250mL (1 cup) sugar 125mL (1/2 cup) water 770mL (3 1/4 cups) flour – plus extra, if needed 60mL...