Squamish’s prayers for a delicious loaf of daily bread were answered just over a year ago when the Tall Tree Bakery doors opened.

Like committed devotees, locals flocked there for French loaves, fruit Danishes, cookies, and croissants—all of which taste every bit as good as they look.

Career Change

You might think it was a lifelong dream of Co-Owners Sean Tremblay and Erin Copeland to open a bakery.

Not so, explained Tremblay, The Tall Tree’s baker behind the scenes.

“Erin and I were both in the military…while in Bosnia I ended up visiting a corner bakery and was really impressed by their stuff—it was better and more interesting than I’d seen in Canada. After going home, I was interested in recreating some of these things, which is when I started getting into baking.”

Together they scoured Canada for the perfect location for their bakery and discovered the secret locals have known for a long time—that Squamish is awesome.

Having never been a morning person, clocking-in at 3 am required some adjusting, explained Tremblay, but there’s a feel-good factor in baking for others that makes those early starts all worth it, he added.

“There’s a lot of satisfaction in being able to create things that people really enjoy,” he said.

Crucial in the kitchen

This versatile recipe is one Tremblay uses in his bakes both at home and work.

“Lemon curd is great for sprucing things up, as a filling in cakes, in fresh fruit tarts, in pavlova, lemon tarts, croissants, popsicles, and even drizzled on a bowl of ice cream. Basically, if you’re looking for a smooth lemon sauce to put in something, it does the job really well,” he said.

It’s also easy to make, he explained.

“You don’t have to do anything fancy except continuously stirring it and being careful not to burn it. You don’t need any special skills.”

And don’t worry if you forget the exact measurements, he said, all you need to remember is the ratio of ingredients.

[recipe id=”81233″]

Top tips

• The consistency you’re aiming for with proper lemon curd is smooth, creamy, and tasty.
• This recipe makes a nice tart lemon curd. For a broader flavour, zest a lemon in with the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice. If you don’t want the zest in the final product strain it out when you pour the curd into a container after cooling.
• You can also make lime or orange curd with the same recipe, just substitute lemon juice for lime or orange juice.
• If you have a double boiler you can use that to help prevent burning.
• If you don’t have a thermometer, heat the mixture until it just starts to boil then pour into the airtight container. If you use this method, you must be diligent with stirring since it can brown on the bottom very easily.

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