Coconut Mung Bean Kaffir Lime Popsicles for MLLA Anniversary!

I've long been a fan of my friend Susan and her gorgeous blog, The Well-Seasoned Cook, especially her elegant photography and her blog event, My Legume Love Affair (MLLA), which has done a great deal to popularize nutritious and delicious beans/legumes. MLLA recently had its 3rd anniversary, and I was honored to accept Susan's invitation to help celebrate this momentous occasion as well as help kick-start what's sure to be a fabulous 4th year! Inspired by Chinese mung bean popsicles as well as our Southeast Asian neighbors, I'm sharing these flavorful Coconut Mung Bean and Kaffir Lime Popsicles over on Susan's site. I'd love if you'd stop on by to check out my full guest post. But if you're in a hurry and just wanna grab the printable recipe, you'll find it right here.

Guest Post: Mango Orange Yogurt Popsicles

If you're like me and scroll through a post's photos first, I know what you're thinking: "WOW -- this looks straight out of a magazine!" That's the same reaction I have to every one of my friend Vera's photos. We met through Flickr only about a year ago but I was instantly taken with her sweet personality and talent; we became fast friends. Together with other women including Aisha, Asri, Laksmi, and Sylvie, we formed a supportive community of photographers sharing honest feedback with each other. I've quickly come to love and rely on these friends.

Meanwhile, Vera's talent for styling and shooting food grew by leaps and bounds, becoming so outstanding that I was not at all surprised (though quite delighted) when she turned it into her profession. You can check out more of her incredible work on her blog, professional site, and Flickr photostream. But first, please give your warmest welcome to Vera and the refreshing treats she brought us today! It's truly an honor to have her as my latest guest.

I would have never thought that one day I would call strangers, whom I've never actually met, friends. Yes, Xiaolu is my friend although we have never met personally; a friend who shares the same passion for photography and food. And what photography! And what food! Have you seen her latest photos and delicious sweet treats? Aren’t they gorgeous? Oh my, you can understand my excitement when she asked me to guest post on her site. Man, what do you bring to someone when she bakes so fantastically? Cookies, cakes and cupcakes were out of question. My little sweets would look just ridiculous against her miraculous treats.

So about a month after I had been asked, I decided to go for popsicles. I have never met anyone who wouldn’t like popsicles, so here they are. This is so international that it really doesn’t matter whether you are Hungarian (like me), American or Asian -- people like ice cream the same way everywhere in the world. It reminds me of my childhood. I always preferred the fruity popsicles and the yellow fruits. I love the color red in everything but in my ice cream. Now, how crazy is that? Yellow fruits are so sunny and remind me of the hot, summer days at my grandmother's. Of the way the sweet, sticky, fruity juice ran down on my arm and of course dripped on my clean, white dress...but I was the happiest girl on Earth at that time. I hope these popsicles will bring back some of your childhood memories, too. Enjoy!

Mango Orange Yogurt Popsicles [Printable Recipe]

2 mangoes, peeled and diced
Freshly squeezed juice from 1 large orange
200 ml water [3/4 cup PLUS 2 Tbsp]
150 g sugar [rounded 3/4 cup]
Yogurt

Fill the bottom of your popsicle mold with the yogurt, then freeze it until the mango puree is ready, but for at least 30 minutes.

Stir sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Process mango and orange juice in a food processor until smooth, add syrup and process to combine. Let it cool in the refrigerator.

Fill popsicle molds and freeze until firm. Insert wooden popsicle sticks and return to freezer until frozen. Dip molds in hot water to unmold before consuming.

Cookbook Review: My Sweet Vegan

Self-Frosting Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

One of the greatest joys of entering the blogging world has been meeting so many talented, large-hearted bakers and cooks who share my passion for good food. One of these amazing individuals is Hannah Kaminsky, vegan baker extraordinaire and mastermind behind the lovely Bittersweet blog. Her credentials are beyond impressive: she'd won baking awards and written a cookbook by college! When her publisher offered me a free review copy of her book, My Sweet Vegan, I naturally jumped at the opportunity.

I was immediately impressed by the variety of offerings in this book. The recipes are divided into 5 sections: Sweet Starts (like Golden Glazed Donuts), Cookies and Bars (like "Cheese" Cake Thumbprint Cookies and Peanut Butter Bombs), Cakes and Cupcakes (like Bananas Foster Cake and Mocha Devastation Cake), Pies and Tarts (like Baklava Tart and Pink Lemonade Tartlets), and Miscellaneous Morsels and Desserts (like Green Tea Tiramisu and Hazelnut Ravioli). Plus each and every recipe comes with a color photograph and inviting introduction from Hannah.

Orange Hazelnut Biscotti

Ultimately I tested the Self-Frosting Peanut Butter Cupcakes, Orange Hazelnut Biscotti, and Green Tea Freezer Pops. All delicious, and even my non-foodie boyfriend raved about the cupcakes and biscotti. The self-frosting cupcakes, made by swirling the chocolate "frosting" into the batter before baking, were a tasty and much faster alternative to my usual. With a cake so moist and flavorful from the peanut butter, butter and eggs weren't missed at all. The popsicles were fast, easy, and refreshing. Featuring almond and green tea flavors paired to great effect. Finally, you can find my detailed review of the biscotti (with recipe) in this past post.

Green Tea Freezer Pops

It's true that recipes are the heart and soul of any cookbook. Yet sometimes it's the little thoughtful touches that win me over. In My Sweet Vegan, these were the Ingredient Guide and Food Allergy Index. While many ingredients in this book are probably already in your kitchen, a few are made especially for vegan cooking (like vegan cream cheese and soy yogurt). Luckily Hannah provides a lot of guidance for finding these. Unlike many cookbooks that just say an item is "available at specialty stores" (as if that's helpful?!), Hannah tells you not only the type of store but often the section where you're likely to find it. She also provides an index of the recipes that are gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, etc. at the end of the book for those struggling with allergies.

Are you starting to get the impression that I like Hannah and her book 8p? I had so much fun reading and baking from it, I hope you'll give it a chance, too. If you've got holiday shopping left to do, My Sweet Vegan would make a lovely and affordable gift for any adventurous bakers or vegans in your life (yourself included ^_^).