Sips, Sweets & Snacks

Today is a very exciting day- Paige and I are launching a new series, and it’s all about learning from talented makers! We wanted to dream up something that would expand our skill set, teach our readers something new, and celebrate all of the incredible people creating in our city and beyond.

We call it the #PastelCraftClub, and it knows no limits!

from now on you can expect a new tutorial, recipe, or how-to on both of our blogs every two weeks, and we’ll be covering everything from an artisan jam recipe, floral DIY’s and a wall tapestry tutorial, to knitting projects, simple building and design projects, and more. The possibilities are seriously endless, and after a quick brainstorm of people and projects to cover, only one question was left: where do we start?

In the end, the answer was obvious- healthy, crazy delicious, and not to mention beautifully crafted, our friend Liz’s Unbaked Cake Co. treats are truly phenomenal, and we have been dying to learn how to make them! Liz already posted a beautiful pink Raw Vegan White Chocolate Raspberry Rose Tart recipe on Random Acts of Pastel awhile back, so this time around we went for a purple favourite from Liz’s Lineup: Blueberry Lavender Mini Tarts!

To make things easier for us unbaking rookies, Liz wrote the recipe for a “cheesecake”, which is much more easy to put together and doesn’t require piping. She also included instructions for the mini tarts shown here in case you’re a piping expert! Perfectly floral, sweet, and healthy enough to eat for breakfast, this nutrient dense recipe is maybe one of our favourite things ever.

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Blueberry Lavender Cheesecake

Ingredients //

Crust:
2 cups raw almonds
6 medjool dates
2 tbsp agave
1 tbsp water
1/4 tsp sea salt

Filling:
3 cups raw cashews
1 cup blueberries
1 cup coconut oil
1 cup agave
1 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 tsp dried lavender

Recipe //

Yield: 1 x 9″ cheesecake

1. Crust: process almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add dates and salt and process until incorporated. Slowly pour in agave and water and pulse until mixture comes together.

2. Press crust into a 9 inch spring form pan and set aside.

3. Filling: process all ingredients in a food processor or Vitamix blender until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour filling into spring form pan.

5. Let cheesecake set in the freezer overnight.

6. Garnish with fresh fruit, chopped nuts, dried lavender, leftover crust, and/or whatever else you may have on hand. Slice and enjoy.

To make mini tarts: press and form crust into mini silicon muffin moulds (will need 3 x the crust recipe) and then fill with blueberry lavender filling. Filling can be spooned into the crust or it can be piped. To pipe, filling must set in the fridge overnight so that it firms up. Garnish each tart with a blueberry. Recipe yields aprox. 50-60 mini tarts.

Sips, Sweets & Snacks

This post was a fun impromptu idea we had that somehow ended up sliding into totally perfect timing. For one, it’s Margarita Monday, which is always worth celebrating in our books. Second, Casamigos sent us some of their amazing tequila to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but we hadn’t had a chance to crack open a bottle for something fun yet. Finally, it’s really actually Spring outside this long weekend! With no sign of disappearing again! And if that isn’t a reason to dream up some crazy hot pink slushies then I don’t know what is.

After we’d already shot the images and worked out the recipe for this post, our friends at Vitamix decided to up the ante. That’s right, we’re giving away the best blender in the whole wide world (a Black 5200 model to be exact)!!! We’ve had ours since we moved into #ThePastelPalace and it has seriously changed our entire kitchen game, so we’re crazy excited to share a machine with one of you!

How’s that for a post-long weekend blues deterrent?

Basically you have one week (till next Monday morning to be precise) to enter as many times/ways as humanly possible… here’s what you have to do (it’s a fun one!)

MANDATORY //

1. Like the Vitamix Facebook page (here) and the RAOP Facebook page (here)

2. Follow both Vitamix and RAOP on Instagram.

BONUS POINTS //

-Follow RAO_P on Snapchat (note- there will be extra chances to get bonus points on Snapchat throughout the week!)
-tag a friend in my Instagram post who you think might need a new blender!
-Follow us both on Twitter (here and here)
-Follow us both on Pinterest (here and here)
-Comment on this post with a list of everything you did at the END of the week.

The more points you compile, the higher chances you have of winning the grand prize! So what are you waiting for?

Still thirsty? Scroll down for the recipe!

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Ingredients //

Yields 2 large glasses

1 dragonfruit
1 handful of frozen strawberries
1 can of frozen limeade concentrate
1/2 cup ice
3 oz Casamigos tequila
Strawberry sugar (recipe here) for rimming

Recipe //

1. Rim your glasses with sugar (we used strawberry sugar that I picked up in France, but you can make your own like this)

2. Cut your dragonfruit into two halves. One half can be roughly chopped and thrown in the blender with the rind still attached, the other should be cut into slices for garnishes.

3. Blend all remaining ingredients on high in your Vitamix until smooth.

4. Pour, top with as many pink decorations as you can find, and serve with a side of Spring sunshine!

Sips, Sweets & Snacks

Some of you may already know this, but Johanna and I originally met working together at a small family-owned tea shop. During our down time after we’d restocked the shelves and dusted off the canisters we’d get together in the cafe and experiment with tasty new tea creations, like bubbling tea pops and milky cake-like tea lattes. We were lucky enough to have a Vitamix to play with as well, so we started inventing tea-infused milkshakes and smoothies, which is how we came up with this minty gem.

Infused with organic peppermint extract and matcha powder (aka. Japanese stone ground green tea), this smoothie comes out like a peppermint milkshake, and we can pretty much promise it will become your new favourite morning treat!

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Ingredients //

2 T organic matcha powder
2 t organic mint extract (we used one from The Spice Trader)
2 T agave syrup or honey (optional)
2 cups vanilla almond milk
2 frozen bananas
1/2 of an avocado
fresh mint for garnish

Instructions //

Add Ingredients and blend (We used our new Vitamix!)

(Yields 2 smoothies)