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A cookbook out this year is all about the sweet life. 

 with inspiration from her home — a fifth-generation sugar beet farm in northwestern Minnesota. The recipes also take inspiration from her Jewish and Chinese cultures, while still remaining solidly Midwestern. 

Molly Yeh talked with MPR News editor Lisa Ryan about her new cookbook and the blend of cultures and flavors that make it unique.

Press play above to listen to their conversation, or read a transcript below, edited for length and clarity. A recipe for Yeh’s rhubarb rose bars is also below. 

A whole section of your book is dedicated to the bars. Can you tell us how you experiment with them?

Yeah, one of my biggest sources of inspiration is the classics, especially classics that are so ubiquitous to this region, because it’s been how I’ve really gotten to know my new home. 

I have a mixed relationship with lemon bars because I feel like they take over your taste buds, so I started exploring this format of the crust with a custardy, fruity filling. And the rhubarb version really stuck, because I felt like it showcased rhubarb in a beautiful way that is warm — warmth meaning the character of the flavors. 

Coconut, rose water, and butter, of course — and those flavors soften the rhubarb to a point where it feels more of a floral, fruity, gentle bar than a bright, puckery lemon bar.

A whole section of the cookbook is dedicated to sweet salads, and you defend them as easily transportable, prep-ahead-able and capable of feeding large crowds. Tell us about how you made the midwestern cookie salad your own?

I love looking at recipes as if they are equations. So, for example, hot dishes. When I first learned about a hot dish, I was like, this, this is so delicious. This is so much fun. And what are the components of a hot dish? 

It’s, a protein, a vegetable, something carby, something creamy, to hold it all together, and then a really cool topping. How can I change up those components as a game and just swap out certain things? That's what I do with cookie salad, too. You’ve got your pudding, the whipped cream, the cookies and the fruit — let’s just have fun.

This book is so much more than recipes. You’ve included Minnesota farming history and your family history. Why did you include these stories?

The journey that I’ve had moving here and suddenly living and breathing and seeing the sugar beet at every stage of its of its life, from planting to growing to harvest to processing, suddenly gave new meaning to my life as a baker, and I wanted to honor that and tell the story of this little-known ingredient. 

I mean, around here, everybody knows what a sugar beet is, but in many parts of the country, it’s just simply not known that half of the country‘s sugar comes from this root vegetable. I wanted to talk about that; I thought it was a really neat thing.

6 tablespoons (75 grams) granulated sugar

½ cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

12 ounces (340 grams) fresh rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 ½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar, divided

1 vanilla bean, split, or 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Zest of 1 lemon, plus 2 tablespoons (30 grams) lemon juice

¼ cup (56 grams) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch square metal baking pan and line with enough parchment paper to allow for 1-inch wings on opposite sides. (If you only have a glass or ceramic pan, that’s OK; just prepare to bake these a little longer!)

In a food processor, pulse together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Scatter on the butter and pulse until pea size. Add the egg white and rosewater and continue to pulse until the mixture starts to clump together. (You can also do this by hand in a big bowl. Use your fingers to incorporate the butter by smashing and rubbing it in with the dry ingredients until it’s evenly dispersed and the butter is pea size. Add the egg white and rosewater and use a rubber spatula to gently mix into a shaggy mass.)

Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and press evenly all around the bottom. Bake until the crust is lightly golden; begin checking for doneness at 15 minutes.

To make the filling, place the rhubarb in a medium saucepan and add water just to cover (about 1 ½ cups/360 grams) and ¼ cup (50 grams) of the granulated sugar. Scrape in the vanilla bean seeds and drop in the pod (or add the paste, if using). Simmer until the rhubarb is falling apart, about 10 minutes. Cool briefly, just so it’s not hot, then strain and discard the solids.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the remaining 1 ¼ cups (250 grams) sugar, the cornstarch, and salt. Add the eggs and egg yolks and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice and ¾ cup (180 grams) of the rhubarb juice. (Keep any extra rhubarb juice to sweeten iced tea or cocktails.) Cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken and bubbles pop to the surface, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon zest, then the butter and coconut oil a little at a time, whisking until melted and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in just enough food coloring to make the mixture a salmon-pink color, a couple of drops.

Pour the filling mixture over the cookie crust (it’s totally OK if the crust is still a little warm; you just don’t want it to be piping hot) and bake until the edges are set but the center is just a tiny bit jiggly; begin checking for doneness at 25 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan. You can steal a taste now but to get the cleanest cuts, refrigerate for a few hours until cold.

Dust with powdered sugar and then with a sharp knife, cut into 16 squares, wiping the blade after each cut.

Store in an airtight container between layers of parchment in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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Author Molly Yeh wrote the cookbook “Sweet Farm!” with inspiration from her home — a fifth-generation sugar beet farm in northwestern Minnesota.

Author Molly Yeh wrote the cookbook "Sweet Farm!" with inspiration from her home — a fifth-generation sugar beet farm in northwestern Minnesota.

Molly Yeh’s new cookbook taps into her sweet life on a Minnesota sugar beet farm

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