Although chef Annie Coleman was first drawn to the methodical aspect of pastry-making, she’ll never pass up a chance to get creative and whip together her love of art, food, and science. After dreaming up tiny lemon tarts last year for Valentine’s Day, Coleman realized the treats could use a colorful update. “I totally missed an opportunity to make them pink,” she says. But she got her do-over: As the chef de cuisine for FARM Hospitality Group, the Beaufort native found herself revisiting tart recipes for the group’s latest project, the plant-forward Wildflower Café, set to open this spring at the Jepson Center, a Telfair Museum, in Savannah. And this time around, an unexpected, abundant winter ingredient offered the perfect pink inspiration. “Typically I’d use hibiscus flowers for color, but we had a lot of beets on hand,” she says. “They really added this earthiness that played well with the citrus.”
Coleman’s recipe is also a vegan take on the traditional lemon bar, opting for creamy coconut milk instead of butter and eggs. “I like this recipe this time of year because local citrus is wrapping up its season, so I get one last taste,” she says. Just make sure to keep an eye on the stove when making the filling: “Don’t step away or it may scorch the bottom. You will lose the bright pink color!”
