One of our favorite Saturday mini-trips is to the heart of Jasper County, Missouri—drive past Kellogg Lake, Roffman’s Pumpkin Farm, and a couple dozen pastures, and you’ll eventually hit the Circle E Market—the area Walmart, so to speak, for our Amish and Mennonite neighbors. Home-grown produce, deli sandwiches with slabs of fresh bread, black stockings, wide striped elastic to shore up your suspenders, turnovers so good they’ll make you cry (especially when you wait to go until the afternoon like we did and they were out)…
…and tea! This was a happy new discovery in their bulk grocery section, and when I saw “carrot cake” I grabbed the bag instantly. Big ol’ hunks of fruit and carrot and white chocolate chips.
It’s pretty much as tasty as it looks. As always, I didn’t read the label and underleafed a little—they recommend 1.5 tsp to 8 ounces water; even so, every element of a good Sunday-church-potluck carrot cake is generously and accurately represented.
The bulk groceries at Circle E are wholesaler bar-coded and privately labeled with the store’s logo, but I’d sure love to know the provenance of this blend. I can’t wait to do a better cup with more leaf next time.
People who liked this
Comments
Simpson and Vail Carrot Cake Cupcake is astounding when you lightly overleaf it. It has a green rooibos base.
I used to work at a market similar to your Circle E. When it was time to order maple syrup, I had to call a broker down in Amish country who would do the whole face-to-face with the people who tapped the sugar maples. Then like a month later, we’d get a delivery from the broker. Sounds like you had a nice outing :)
It was a spur of the moment thing, so I didn’t have much allowance to spend, but the local honey and cider looked awfully good, too.
The ingredients of this blend looks like it matches the Carrot Cake blend from Tealyra that I love, but that is discontinued from their site.
Simpson and Vail Carrot Cake Cupcake is astounding when you lightly overleaf it. It has a green rooibos base.
I used to work at a market similar to your Circle E. When it was time to order maple syrup, I had to call a broker down in Amish country who would do the whole face-to-face with the people who tapped the sugar maples. Then like a month later, we’d get a delivery from the broker. Sounds like you had a nice outing :)
It was a spur of the moment thing, so I didn’t have much allowance to spend, but the local honey and cider looked awfully good, too.
The ingredients of this blend looks like it matches the Carrot Cake blend from Tealyra that I love, but that is discontinued from their site.