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    Food & DIY

    Strawberry and Pistachio Popsicles

    July 6, 2015

     

    The weather in L.A. has been unbearably hot these past few weeks, and the worst part is that temperatures are only going to continue to rise as we get deeper into summer. As a way to keep cool in this heat, I’ve been relying heavily on frozen treats and decided that a popsicle mold would be a wise investment for that reason. I was so excited about putting my new mold to use that, as soon as it arrived on my doorstep, I immediately drove over to Trader Joe’s to buy ingredients for this recipe.

    I decided to make strawberry and pistachio popsicles for my first recipe. While I’m not particularly fond of pistachios as a snack, I do love how they taste when added into frozen treats such as ice cream and popsicles. I especially liked the way the subtle nutty flavor of the pistachios complemented the sweetness of the strawberries in this particular recipe.

    The most satisfying part of working on this recipe, besides getting to eat the final product, was having the opportunity to get behind the camera and experiment with food styling.  I’m trying to improve my photography skills, and I’m looking forward to getting to work on more projects like this now that the days are longer and I can rely on natural lighting for photos. As many of you know, it can feel overwhelming to post more than once a week when you only have Saturday and Sunday to get work done.

    Strawberry and Pistachio Popsicles

    Ingredients
    1 cup of almond milk
    1 1/2 cups of strawberries
    1/4 cup of condensed milk
    1/3 cup of unsalted shelled pistachios

    You’ll also need…
    Popsicle mold (I purchased this mold from Amazon)
    Popsicle sticks

    Instructions

    1. Blend the strawberries, condensed milk and almond milk until smooth.

    2. Add pistachios to the mixture and pulse for a couple of seconds. If you prefer larger chunks of pistachio in your popsicles, you can skip this step and just stir them into the strawberry mixture.

    3. Pour the mixture into the mold and add popsicle sticks. Pop the mold into the freezer until the mixture hardens. Once you’re ready to enjoy these frozen treats, run the mold under warm water for a couple of seconds to make it easier for you to take out the popsicles.

    Enjoy!

    —-

    I hope you all had an awesome 4th of July weekend. I was fortunate enough to have Friday off and spent the morning at the beach with my sisters, which was very fun and relaxing. Afterwards, we drove down to San Juan Capistrano for lunch and coffee. I didn’t do much on Saturday, since I was a bit tired from the day before, but I did manage to catch a couple of fireworks from my bedroom window. I wish all weekends were three-day weekends because I always manage to get so much done!
    xoxo,
    Helen 

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    Food & DIY

    Crepe Cake with Candied Lemons

    July 1, 2015
    Hey there! My name is Ale and I’m Helen’s sister and occasionally her super awesome photographer! Last month I celebrated my birthday with this awesome crepe cake and I wanted to share the recipe with you guys on Sweet Helen Grace!
    I absolutely love crepes, and once you get the hang of them they’re really easy to make. The best crepes are incredibly thin, so making a tall crepe cake will require lots of patience. I obviously have little patience because my cake was a little stump. I recommend making this cake with some sort of cream icing in between each layer. The icing made for the Chocolate Cake with Honey Roasted Apricots would be perfect for this because it’s light and won’t compete with the lemon flavor. Sharing the recipe for this cake was a little challenging. I have been making crepes for so long that I can make the batter without thinking about it very much. For reference, I modified this recipe from Two of a Kind‘s savory crepe recipe. I hope you guys give this recipe a try! Before I begin, let me just say that this post was supposed to be called “What a Crepe-y Cake!”, but this is like a serious blog, or whatever.

     

    Candied Lemons                                                                                                                             
     
    Ingredients:
     
    2 large Meyer lemons
    1 cup of sugar (I used unrefined sugar)
    Crepes                                                                                                                                             
    Ingredients:
     
    2 cups of flour
    2 cups of milk
    4 large eggs
    3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
    1 wee pinch of salt
    1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
    Instructions                                                                                                                                     
    1. Cut one lemon into thin slices, remove the seeds and toss away the ends of the lemon rind. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a rolling boil.
    2. Remove the saucepan from heat and then place in the lemon slices. Gently stir them for no more than 2 minutes, remove the slices from the saucepan and immediately transfer them into an ice bath. Afterwards, drain the ice water.
    3. In a skillet, combine 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar and dissolve the sugar on medium heat. Cut the second lemon in half and squeeze fresh lemon juice into this mixture. Once the sugar is completely dissolved and bubbling (not boiling!) add the lemon slices to the water and lower the temperature to medium low. Keep the lemon slices in simmering water until the rinds of the lemon look glassy (45 minutes-1 hour).
    4. Once done, place the candied lemon slices on a waxed sheet and set aside to cool.
    5. Melt the butter in a small-to-medium bowl. Combine the flour, milk, eggs, butter, pinch of salt, and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. If you find that your mixture is thick, which was my experience using the original crepe recipe, slowly add a couple of tablespoons of milk until the consistency is runny.
    6. Heat an 8-10 inch non-stick frying pan over medium to medium-low heat.
    7. Lift your pan from the heat, add 1/4 cup of batter to the pan and swirl it until the bottom of the pan is completely covered.
    8. Once the edges of the crepe look crisp, and the center of the crepe no longer looks uncooked, use a non-stick spatula and your fingers to flip the thin pancake over. Leave to cook for about a minute and then flip the crepe onto a plate. You want the crepe to be golden so if it’s still too pale cook it for a little longer.
    9. Repeat until finished with batter. Make more batter if you want a taller cake.
    10. When you have finished making all of the crepes you want for your cake, stack them on whichever serving platter or tray you wish to serve it on. I recommend using an icing of your choice in between each layer.
    11. Garnish cake with fresh lemon juice, candied lemons and powdered sugar. I added a couple of orange ranunculus for presentation.
    Tips:
    * If you don’t plan to use your crepes immediately after, wrap them up in foil so they don’t become hard and stale.
    * You can add sugar to-taste to the crepe batter for a sweeter cake.
    Enjoy!
    —
    You can also check out Ale’s blog at downtomyskivvies.blogspot.com
    Food & DIY

    Chocolate Cake with Honey Roasted Apricots

    May 11, 2015
    If there’s one way that I know how to tell my friends and family that I love them, it’s by baking them something delicious. That is why it was a no-brainer to bake my mom a cake in celebration of Mother’s Day this weekend. This chocolate cake with honey roasted apricots definitely received my mother’s approval and, if anything, the amount of effort I put into it definitely demonstrated to her how much I care.
    I went a bit out of my comfort zone with this recipe. Aside from the cake recipe, which I adapted from this Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe on the Free People Blog, I decided to experiment with making the frosting and roasted apricots. Whenever I try out this method, I usually end up having to make modifications and start all over again. Thankfully, I managed to get this recipe just right on the first try and saved myself multiple trips to the grocery store. My mom and family really enjoyed this recipe, and you know that you’ve baked something yummy when you immediately start receiving cake requests for upcoming birthdays.
     
    CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH HONEY ROASTED APRICOTS
    (Serves 10-12 people)
    CHOCOLATE CAKE
    Adapted from Free People Blog
    3 3/4 cups of flour
    2 1/4 cups of sugar
    1 cup of cocoa powder
    1 tbsp of baking soda
    1 1/2 tsp of salt
    1 cup of olive oil
    1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
    3 cups of warm water
    1 tbsp of bourbon vanilla extract
    WHIPPED CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
    1 lb of cream cheese
    2 cups of heavy whipping cream
    1/2 cup of sugar
    1 tbsp of bourbon vanilla extract
    HONEY ROASTED APRICOTS
    8-10 small apricots
    1/4 cup of honey
    1/4 cup of olive oil
    1 tbsp of cinnamon
    Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl mix the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, warm water and bourbon vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture has a smooth texture. Transfer the mixture into a large circular baking pan and bake for approximately 60-70 minutes. Let the cake cool to room temperature.
    In a bowl combine the cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, sugar and bourbon vanilla extract. Use a handheld mixer to whip the ingredients until the mixture has a thick and creamy consistency.
    Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the apricots and place them in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine the honey, olive oil and cinnamon. Pour the mixture into the bowl with the sliced apricots and mix the two together; you want the apricots to be completely covered in the wet ingredients. Spread the apricots evenly on a greased baking pan and bake them for 15-20 minutes. Let the roasted apricots cool to room temperature.
    Slice the chocolate cake into two halves and place the top layer aside. Spread half of the frosting mixture on top of the first cake layer and then spread half of the roasted apricot slices. Place the second layer on top of the first and decorate it with the remaining whipped cream cheese frosting and roasted apricots.
    Enjoy!
    —
    I hope you all liked this recipe. Please let me know how you like it if you ever give it a try!
    xoxo,
    Helen
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