It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, it ain’t xmas, it’s Popsicle Week 2014! organized by the one and only Billy of Wit and Vinegar. This week has been FILLED with amazing recipes from a bunch of harcore foodies and today’s my turn to share the goods: Dairy Free Black Forest Popsicles!

You know black forest cake, right? That delicious german creation stuffed with chocolate, cream, and cherries. Well, this recipe is THE SAME except that there’s no dairy AND I skipped the maraschino cherries which taste like cough syrup, instead, I used a sour cherry compote and topped it all with dark chocolate shavings. I’m telling ya, THIS IS GOOD.

Side note: I used some local cherries for styling purposes and my house ended up looking like a murder scene from Dexter! ha! There was cherry juice on the walls and all.

Full recipe after the jump!

Dairy Free Black Forest Popsicles

Makes 10 pops

Ingredients

- 2 cans coconut milk (full-fat makes it fudge-y, but you can use light if you want)
- 1/3 cup dutch-processed cocoa
- 5 tablespoons agave syrup (3 for the chocolate sauce, 2 for the “cream”).
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup cherry jam or any kind of store bought cherry compote (use something with less sugar)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Dark chocolate for shavings

Instructions

1. Pour 1 can of coconut milk in a heavy pot, add the cocoa, 3 tablespoons of agave syrup, and whisk to incorporate. Turn up the heat on medium and let it gently simmer for about 5 min. Set aside, place in the fridge to cool down.
1. In a mixing bowl, pour the other can of coconut milk, the vanilla, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of agave syrup, whisk until the syrup dissolves. Place in the fridge.
1. In a small bowl place the cherry compote and add juice of 1/2 lemon, stir to mix well, set aside.

Assemble!

- Get your popsicle containers and fill 1/4 with the chocolate sauce, then add spoon-ish of cherry compote, slowly and gently pour some of the vanilla coconut milk (don’t fill it all the way though). Top any space left with more of the chocolate sauce.
- Using a chopstick or skewer make a few swirls. I suggest you insert the chopstick and just give it one or two swirls – don’t swirl too much or you’ll mix it all.
- Place in the freezer and after 20-30 min insert the popsicle sticks so that they stay in place and don’t sink. Freeze completely.

To serve simply sprinkle some chocolate shavings on top (warm up the chocolate bar with your hands and use a veggie peeler to shave it). That’s it!!

Tasty tasty bastards, indeed.

CREDIT:
Photos and styling: Artful Desperado

OH! Someone please pass me a bar of chocolate, I feel fainty with such beauty! Food, illustration, recipes – yes yes and yes.

Los Angeles artist, Sara Zin, recently created a new project titled Starving Artist Recipes where she illustrates her favourite meals and gives instructions and all on how to prepared them.

What I love the most is the description of her project, it’s so honest and cute:

While I’m no celebrity chef, my goal for this blog is sincere — to share the recipes (and personal insight) I wish I knew when I was younger, to whomever is interested

And that’s what good food is all about; sincere ingredients and simple moments. And how awesome are those drawings? I am a total fan of this style of food blogging. You go Sara!

For more great recipes and illustrations visit Starving Artist Recipes

Via: Cross Connect

Fellas, time to man up your drinks! Life is too short and there’s no time to waste on a bunch of bland ice cubes that just dilute your drink. This week on ManMadeDIY I posted a trusty little guide to make your own flavoured ice cubes at home, plus, a couple recipes to make these game-changing icy bad boys.

All you need is a simple home-made chocolate syrup, some spices, and you’re good to go. Head over to ManMadeDIY to get the full scoop!

PS. After I made them I totally snacked on them! The chocolate ones are aces with any kind of milky drink (or even in coffee) and the spiced ones are killer on bourbon and whiskey based cocktails like an old fashioned…hmm..I luh yu papi.

I am torn between playing Missy Elliot’s ’4 My People’ and bounce some ass in a SURFBORDT style, or going the classier way and play ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ by The Beatles; either of those tracks would sound amazing while baking these INSANELY GOOD shortcakes. My friends, this recipe is da bomb. I found it in last month’s edition of Bon Appetit and have been dreaming about it since. I added a bit of zingy citrus to make it extra yummy.

Picture this: sweet juicy local strawbs, fresh basil, and the tangy essence of lime, all sandwiched in between a buttery shortcake loaded with fluffy cream. Seriously, a culinary boner right there. I know there’s plenty of dairy in here and some of us should stay away from it BUT, some things cannot be replaced! Just pop a few lactose pills like I did and you’ll be fine. It’s SO worth it.

Perfect. Summer. Treat.

FULL RECIPE AFTER THE JUMP!

Strawberry Lime Basil Shortcakes

Serves 8

Ingredients

Shortcakes
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter cut in cubes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg

Strawberries
- 3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled, quartered
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- A few sprigs of fresh basil
- Zest of 1 lime

Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp. creme fraiche (sour cream could work too)
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the shortcakes!

1: Start by preheating the oven at 400F

2: Combine sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour in a mixing bowl. Add chilled cubes of butter and using your fingers (or a couple forks) work the butter until it looks like coarse meal with bits of butter left (don’t over work it or butter will melt! If it gets too hot, place your bowl in the fridge for a few minutes).

3: Add heavy cream and mix until dough comes together (don’t worry if it’s kind of sticky). Dust some flour on a surface and roll the dough until it’s about 3/4″ thick (don’t go too think or you’ll make cookies!). Using a biscuit cutter, cut rounds and place on a sheet with parchment paper. Re-roll scraps to make as many as you can.

4: Beat the egg with a bit of water and brush on top of the shortcakes. You can sprinkle a bit of sugar if you want. I didn’t. Bake until golden brown and cooked through (about 20 min). Remove from the oven and let cool.

Flavour the berries and beat the cream!

1: In a heavy-bottom pan place half of the strawberries, 1 Tbsp of sugar and add a little splash of water. Turn on the heat and cook until they get mushy and thick (about 10 min). Mash with a whisk if needed. Remove from heat and let it cool completely.

2: In a bowl, dump the rest of the fresh strawberries, add 1 Tbsp of sugar, zest of lime, and using your hands tear the basil in pieces and add it to the mix. Stir well and let the mix sit for 20 min. Remove any big leaves left (some bits of basil are ok).

3: Beat the heavy cream, creme fraiche, vanilla, and sugar to soft peaks. Set aside.

Now let’s assemble these beauties!

- Cut the shortcake in half and place a nice dollop of cream
- Place some of the lime/basil strawberries on top
- Spoon the mushed strawberries over
- Add one last bit of cream so the top of the shortcake stays in place

And voila!

You can make these bad boys in advance (a couple days max) if needed, just assemble the day of!

You should totally bring some to your next summer gathering, and trust me, your friends will be RAVIN’ AND NOT BEHAVIN’ over them.

CREDIT
Photos and Styling: Artful Desperado
Recipe: Adapted from Bon Appetit May 2014

So, as a creative being that I strive to be, I cannot help but to always try to criticize my work until I feel like Snooki’s armpit. Yeah. Pretty gross. BUT then – as The Jealous Curator says – I stop listening to my inner asshole critic and I move on and continue to create. Cause seriously, who wants to feel like an armpit all the time.

Along the way you find the work of peeps that inspire you, and in this case I found the work of photographer Andrew Thomas Lee, who has a more than excellent portfolio of lifestyle, interior, and food shots.

Aaaaah! Look at those oysters! (I HATE OYSTERS) Those nasty little salty snots look AMAZING and tempting, and the lighting, oh the lighting on those smoked lil’ fishies, so good! I think it’s safe to say that if someone makes you want to eat something you definitely don’t like, then they are super good at photographing it.

Enjoy the rest of Mr. Lee over here

In the words of Michael Jackson: mama se mama sa ma ma coo sa! That’s how moon-walkingly-amazing this treat is!

Dudes, so, for the longest time I’ve wanted to make a parfait with pretzels in it, you know, ’cause we all need a bit of crunchy salty goodness in our lives – and this is it! This flavour combo of creamy hazelnuts with a touch of cocoa, and the juicy tartness of fresh strawberries is way too good! It will definitely have you doing a bunch of crotch-grabbin’ moves all over the kitchen.

The whole thing takes about 40 min to make and it’s dairy and wheat FREE! Muaah ha haa.

Let’s make it!

FULL RECIPE AFTER THE JUMP

Hazelnut Mousse Pretzel Strawberry Parfaits

Serves 4

Ingredients:

- 2 cans full fat coconut milk chilled in the fridge overnight
- 1/4 cup hazelnut butter
- 1 tablespoon dutch cocoa
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup gluten-free pretzels – mine were also dairy free (if you ain’t a diva like us, just use regular ones)
- A bunch of fresh strawberries, cleaned, and cut in quarters
- Optional: crushed hazelnuts to top

4 jars, a pipping bag (if ya feel fancy), a few spoons.

Instructions:

Play a few good tunes, including PYT by MJ, and let’s get this done.

1: Open your overnight-chilled cans of coconut milk (don’t shake them!) and carefully scoop the top solid layer in a bowl. You can discard the leftover liquid or you can use it in your smoothies.

2: Add the agave syrup, hazelnut butter, vanilla, and cocoa to the coconut milk solids and whisk until smooth and fluffy (about 5 min). Place in the fridge for a few minutes.

TIP: Stop whisking when it looks like buttercream – if for some reason it looks like it “splits” just let the mix warm up a bit at room temp and whisk again.

3: While the hazelnut mousse cools down, crush the pretzels using a food processor or whack them by hand until they have a coarse meal consistency. Set aside.

4: Place chilled hazelnut mousse mix in a pipping bag (you can skip this step and use a spoon instead, but seriously, why wouldn’t you pipe it?!).

Assemble!

Using a jar, start layering your ingredients: first a thin layer of crushed pretzels, then scoop or pipe some hazelnut mousse, add strawberries on top, and repeat until you fill the glass. Top with crushed hazelnuts for an extra nutty touch. Serve and eat right away!

And that’s it! This chilled bad boy is gonna be one of your summer faves *CROTCH GRAB AND SPIN*

NOTES:
- Don’t let the parfaits sit at room temp for too long or the mousse will not be mousse-y (will still taste awesome though).
- I would avoid assembling them too far in advance as the pretzels may get soggy. A few hours in the fridge is ok.
- You can substitute the hazelnut butter for any other nut butter.

Photos and Styling: Artful Desperado

Sexy, spicy, messy. Am I talking about a spanish lover? Not quite – but pretty close. This is one of those recipes where you leave all rules aside and you give in to the lust of food oozing in your mouth (shit, this blog all of the sudden is rated R). Basically it’s like JLo’s new single “I Luh Ya Papi” but in a pan.

I know it’s tuesday and brunch is not happening for a few days (4 days, but who’s counting), but I thought you should be prepared for the occasion and make this super tasty dish. In Mexico it’s called ‘Huevos Ahogados’ (literally “drowned eggs”) and it’s made with a hot salsa-type base. This one is a bit more Spanish, but still has some Mexican flare included, si si papi! I found this recipe in Gather Journal, and totally made my mouth water.

Want to get in bed with…a sexy messy set of spicy poached eggs?! Sure you do!

FULL RECIPE AFTER THE JUMP

Roasted Anaheim Pepper Tomato Poached Eggs

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

- 1 white onion, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Anaheim peppers (you can substitute for poblano)
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 4-6 eggs (depends on how many you’re serving)
- Grana Padano cheese or any other cheese of your liking
- Handful fresh parsley, chopped

- A nice loaf of crusty bread for serving.

Steps:

1. Roast the peppers and tomatoes on an open flame or in your oven’s broiler. No need to brush with oil. Once they are nice and roasted, place them inside a plastic bag or wrap them in a cloth until they’re cool enough to handle. Rinse off the skin by rubbing your hands, leave some bits attached as this adds flavour (WARNING: wash your hands after as the anaheim peppers can be hot and you don’t wanna rub your face or other intimate parts). Once they’re clean, dice them all.

2. In a heavy-bottom pan, add some olive oil and chopped onions and sautee them ’til they’re nice and golden (a bit translucent). Add the garlic, and let it toast a bit, add all your spices and toast them as well, make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan so nothing burns (2 min max), then add diced anaheim peppers, diced roasted tomatoes, and the can of tomatoes.

3. Let the mix simmer on medium heat for about 10 min, then using a spoon or spatula, make little nooks in the sauce and crack an egg in each nook. Add a generous portion of shredded cheese on top. Cover the pan and let the eggs cook until just set (about 10 min). Adjust seasoning.

4. Once they’re done, scoop the eggs on a plate with some of the sauce (and extra cheese if needed, ’cause CHEESE) and serve with a nice piece of toasted crusty bread.

Pair this dish with a bubbly drink of sorts, like a mimosa or a beer (beer for breakfast IS TOTALLY OK) and you’ll be living la vida loca.

Bye papis and mamis!

Photos and Styling: The Artful Desperado
Recipe: Gather Journal Winter Fall 2014 Shakshuka

I think I have a new name for my alter kitchen ego – Rhubarbara – bitchy, bold, and toxic if not trimmed. HAHA. Ok no, I’m not a bitch in the kitchen. Well, sometimes, just when shit doesn’t get done. Anywaaaysss..dudes of this prodigious planet called earth; I have rhubarb for you! Rhubarb mixed with raspberries on top of meringues…with cream…and pistachio crumble (!!!) Basically this is like a deconstructed rhubarb pie. *your head just exploded*.

This uber popular herbaceous perennial (a.k.a. everyone loves this fucking plant) is bringing its magic to this recipe in full throttle. To be honest, I rarely use rhubarb, but after trying it in this combo, I am hooked!

GET THE FULL RECIPE AFTER THE JUMP

Ok, before we start I’m not gonna lie, meringues are tricky little shits. They are SO temperamental! BUT should you follow a few tips (which are included in the recipe) and be patient, your efforts will be rewarded with the taste of sweet pillowy goodness.

Also, this recipe takes a wee more time to make, but again, it’s all worth it. You can make a few things in advance and just assemble everything the day of.

Let’s do this!

Rhubarb Raspberry Meringues with Pistachio Crumble

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

*For the meringues:
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 6 large egg whites at room temperature
- Pinch of cream of tartar
- 1 cup super fine (or extra fine) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*For the rhubarb and raspberries:
- 2 large rhubarb stalks, washed, trimmed, and sliced
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Pinch of ground cardamon (optional)
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla

*For the crumble:
- 1/2 cup spelt flour (if you can eat wheat, go ahead and use regular flour)
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 5 tablespoons of cold butter (shortening or cold coconut oil could work too)
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/3 roughly ground pistachios (chunky is good!)
- Pinch of salt

- Whipped cream or coconut cream (whip it yo self! I didn’t use sugar in mine).

MERINGUE TIPS:
- Make sure your egg whites are at room temp!
- No greasy utensils whatsoever, wash your bowl and whisk if needed and dry completely, meringues can’t handle moisture at all.
- Don’t add salt! (unlike common belief) It actually makes it harder for the whites to rise
- Be patient and spoon the sugar into the egg whites as you beat them, don’t dump the whole thing or you’ll deflate it.
- When baking, keep a close eye on them as each oven is different
- Cooked meringues will last around 3 days if stored in an airtight container – Vancouver is SUPER HUMID so this rule is totally useless and you gotta eat them the day of haha.
- Corn starch helps getting rid of moisture, apple cider vinegar makes them chewy.

Instructions

Preheat oven at 350F

1. Make the meringues: First dissolve the vinegar and starch in a small container until there are no lumps and keep close to you. Start beating your egg whites in a clean bowl, add the pinch of cream of tartar and continue to beat until you reach soft peaks – at this point you’ll add a bit of the starch + vinegar mix, and a few spoons of sugar. Alternate between those two until you finish the sugar and the whites are stiff and glossy (I suggest to beat slowly when incorporating the sugar so you don’t collapse them). Give one last swirl to incorporate the vanilla.

2. Spoon the glossy whites in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and using the same spoon, try to make some space in the centre (like a nest). Place trays with the oven and immediately turn down the temp to 200F. Bake for about an hour, rotating trays every 10 minutes. Once they’re hard enough on the outside, turn off the oven and let them sit in there as the oven cools down. Remove when ready.

3. Cook rhubarb and raspberries: in a pot place the rhubarb, raspberries, sugar, water, lemon juice, vanilla, and cardamon and turn on the heat. Let the fruits gently simmer until rhubarb is soft (but not pureed). Strain the mix, keep fruit on the side. Return liquid to the stove and let it boil (reduce) for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, let it cool down.

4. Make the crumble: in a bowl, combine the flour, pistachios, butter, sugar, rolled oats, and pinch of salt. Use your fingers to break down the cold butter and use a “pinching” motion to combine until it looks like coarse meal. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake at 350F for about 20 min or until golden brown (watch for the bottom so it doesn’t burn!). Let it cool.

Assemble treats

- Place a meringue on a plate. Spoon some whipped cream, then spoon some of the fruit on top and give a generous drizzle of the fruit liquid. Top with pistachio crumble and if needed, add extra pistachios.

Done!! WOAH. That was like a culinary marathon! But waaay better and delicious. Ok, my fingers hurt from typing. Now it’s your turn to live this meringuey experience in its full glory. ENJOY!

Photos and Styling: Artful Desperado

Whoa. Art meets chocolate meets awesome packaging design. That’s what Mexican brand (yeah! REPRESENT!) UNELEFANTE is all about. This colourful independent retailer focuses on selling super high quality goods that are mostly produced and designed in Mexico.

UNELEFANTE chocolate bars totally standout because of their beautiful execution and patterns based on famous artists like Pollock. I mean seriously, who could resist buying them?! I would even feel guilty eating them all.

To see more of these awesome products (and to brush up on your spanish) check out UNELEFANTE’s store. You go Mexico!

OH. OH. OHHHH. I am still tingly from this liquid-chocolate-magical experience. Basically I just let Willy Wonka’s river flow right into my mouth! Before we jump into the treat frenzy, let’s learn a few foodie-nerd facts.

So, have you ever tried an egg cream soda? It’s an American classic! (You can usually find them in dinners). Funny enough, there’s no egg in the original recipe! Who knows why they named it that way. There is however, whole milk, along with chocolate syrup (usually hershey’s), and bubbly seltzer (club soda). It’s a frothy chocolate-y dense cold drink that is just sublime.

Since I cannot enjoy the virtues of dairy anymore (a.k.a. a sign of getting old!), I decided to give it a go with coconut milk instead of regular whole milk. I also made the chocolate syrup at home since that Hershey’s stuff is kinda obscure. The result was SO GOOD. It’s like a melted milkshake with fizz.

Mind you, it could be something odd to try for the first time since you expect a “chocolate milk” taste but then BAM! You get the bubbles right after. Now that the sun is coming out, you should definitely give it a go.

Alrighty, shall we let the chocolate rivers flow?

FULL RECIPE AND STEPS AFTER THE JUMP

Vegan Chocolate Cream Soda

Makes 5 and a half cups (a bit over a litre)

Notes:
- You can play around with the ratio of coconut milk and chocolate syrup, add it little by little until you’re ok with the taste. The amounts in this recipe make a really rich soda. Mmmh chocolate *drool*
- Make sure the club soda, chocolate syrup, and coconut milk are super cold, also, serve in a chilled glass if possible.
- The syrup I made is quite tamed and lets the bitterness of the cocoa come through, if you want a sweeter mix, add more agave syrup.
- If you don’t have vanilla pods, use 1/4 teaspoon (not full) of real vanilla extract.

Ingredients

For the chocolate syrup:
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup agave syrup
- Scraped seeds from 1/3 of a vanilla pod

For the soda:
- 3 cups cold club soda (seltzer)
- 1/2 cup cold coconut milk

Instructions

Make the chocolate syrup:
1. Place all chocolate syrup ingredients in a pot over medium heat. Use a whisk to dissolve the cocoa. Let it gently simmer for about 5-10 minutes until it turns darker and gets a bit thicker (careful it doesn’t boil over!).

2. Once it’s ready, let it cool completely and place it in the fridge.

Make the soda:
1. Place a few glasses in the freezer to get them nice and frosty.

2. Get a jug that’s big enough to fit at least 6 cups (you can use a big bowl too and then you can scoop it out, though it might be messy). Let the pouring begin!

3. Pour the club soda, coconut milk, and 2 cups of the cold chocolate syrup. Give it a gentle stir, serve in a frosty chilled glass and you’re done!

For food-porn purposes, I gave my first stab at creating a culinary gif of the pouring process:

Please note I made a fucking mess all over my white table cloth, HA! Thank god for oxiclean.

So, fellas – I can see this becoming a little bit of an addiction! Or maybe you’ll be all like “wtf?? bubbles?” haha, either way, you gotta try it. Enjoy!

PHOTOS AND STYLING: Artful Desperado
Recipe adapted from Mast Brothers’ chocolate cookbook