Purple Carrots, Macarons & The St. Lawrence Market

Last weekend I hit the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto with my friend Heather. I was on a mission for a few items...namely macarons from Lemon Tree Patisserie (which I had read about over at chowhound.com), some yummy bread and maybe keep an eye out for some fun coloured vegetables and some other random goodies that might find their way into my hungry hands!

It never disappoints and it's clearly a place I could spend a long time at! The next time I will certainly get some more goodies, but for now...we're talking about purple carrots and macarons!


According to Carrot Museum.com, multi-coloured carrots were actually the norm until Dutch growers cultivated only the orange variety. I really enjoyed the golden yellow ones, they were a little bit sweeter than the orange ones and definitely not as woody as the purple ones.

Because I'm generally not a fan of cooked carrots, I still have one purple carrot left. I think it's too woody to eat raw...does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do with one purple carrot??

Heather in the last year has been a vegan and we found a little cafe with lots of vegan/raw goodies, including a muffin which was 'interesting' according to both Heather and myself. Essentially it was eating a warm little ball of grain and grated carrots.

Yep.
I could never be vegan.

I was all about the eggs and refined sugar as I tracked down Lemon Tree Patisserie for macarons.

Lots of food bloggers have been speaking about macarons lately (and over the past couple of years) and although I was won over by the elegant male servers in pinstripe suits and white gloves in Laduree while in Paris, I wasn't terribly impressed by the macarons (which I think was entirely my fault as I waited HOURS to eat them).

I think I had let my macarons get a little too warm and the centres actually soaked into the meringue part! Eeps. Not to mention that I did choose some of the more 'interesting' flavours (Muget ~ Lily of the Valley and Cassis Violet ~ Violet Blackcurrant) rather than go for the simple and more common flavours.

This past weekend, I had to purchase some macarons at the market and Lemon Tree Patisserie's flavours were very interesting!



Mango, Chocolate Banana & Lavender.

Lavender was absolutely my favourite. The mango was pretty tasty too. However, I was a little disappointed at the lack of chocolate flavour of the chocolate banana. That said, Kelly uses all natural ingredients and that is impressive.

The meringues were crunchy on the outside and terrifically chewy on the inside and the fillings were deliciously thick and buttery. Mmmmmm..buttery. I know that Lemon Tree is at the market every Saturday morning, so be sure to check it out!


Read about making macarons and all the terrific flavours at these wonderful blogs!

Bakerella ~ Macarons!
Mad Baker ~ Macarons
David Lebovitz ~ Making French Macarons: Instructions & Recipes
Ms. Adventures in Italy ~ Laduree Macarons & Finding the Perfect Macaron Recipe

Other yummy things I purchased at the market were some creamy red beet humus from Uncle George's Sprouts and some artisanal garlic bread from StoneMill.

Next time, I'll take more money..and more photos! :)

Delicious.