One Saturday afternoon, I had friends coming over to visit for a while on their way to some adventures in Bothell. I wanted to offer them a glass of wine and a dessert – something nice to tide them over until their dinner hours later.
I decided to bake a quick Meyer Lemon cake from a Trader Joe’s box cake mix I’d stocked up on a couple weeks back. (I knew I’d be too busy frantically vacuuming up dog hair ahead of their visit, so I wouldn’t have time to bake a dessert from scratch).
I usually decorate my lemon cakes, lemon quickbreads and lemon pound cakes with fresh lemon slices, but thought it would be fun to try the new sweetened dried lemon slices that Trader Joe’s came out with this summer. I thought they’d prove to be edible, unlike the lemon slices my guests usually carefully place to the side of their plate before eating their cake slices. They were a bit chewy on the rinds, but the middles were delicious and reminded me of gummy candies.
On this warm summer day, I thought I’d offer my guests a very cold glass of Chenin Blanc from Lauren Ashton Cellars here in Woodinville. I thought this medium-bodied wine could hold up to the tart lemon flavors and not compete.
We ate cake and drank our wine outdoors in my backyard, watched over by sad-eyed begging dogs who weren’t given any scraps of dessert! There was enough cake left for a slice at breakfast the next morning, but alas, we’d drunk up all the Chenin Blanc and I had to eat my cake with hot tea instead!
See what other delicious white wines Lauren Ashton is currently offering, over on their website if you’d like.
-Carrie
