So two weeks ago, I got a notice from my leasing office that I was scheduled to move out a few days ago. There was some major miscommunication between me and the management which kind of forced me to vacate my old place and quickly find a new one. Just thinking about the whole process makes me a bit nauseous. But now that I have a living space (thankfully), I want to put everything behind me, slowly

 unpack and organize things and enjoy the beautiful light that comes through my small patio.

The new place and I are still getting used to each other. It feels weird every time I try to lock my door, the key slides in smoothly unlike my old place. The apartment faces West so the light feels different than my old apartment and I am curious to see how it will affect my pictures. I haven’t cooked much here yet which partly explain things on my instagram lately: pretzels, pizza, pies, and ice cream.

Since it’s sweltering hot here, instead of turning on the oven I made Vietnamese coffee popsicles. If you are into coffee-related things (I don’t see any reason you should not be), this is a perfect marriage between caffeine and sugar which is the key to my survival and utmost happiness these days.

I was hooked on Vietnamese iced coffee two years ago – what is not to love about sweetened condensed milk + strong freshly brewed coffee right? Traditionally, it is made with regular sweetened condensed milk but I made vegan sweetened condensed. I thought the vegan condensed milk was not as sticky as the traditional kind but taste wise, it was pretty delicious. Feel free to use whatever condense milk you desire.

Individual coffee brewer called “phin filter” is generally used but bon appetit suggests that ground coffee can be steeped in a heat proof container with water and poured through a coffee filter into a heatproof glass. I found a phin filter at an Asian grocery for less than $10.

If you don’t have a legit Popsicle mold, don’t fret. 2 oz mini party disposable cups (which can be reused again) and craft sticks works just as fine. Let’s get the popsicle party started already friends!!!

Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles  (Vegan)

Serves 4 – 2 oz Popsicles

Ingredients

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoon coffee such as Trung Nguyen (available at Asian store)
• 2 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk or (used make vegan condensed milk by boiling 1-14 oz can full-fat coconut milk + 1/4 cup sugar (or maple sugar until it reduces in half)

Directions

• Pour condensed milk on the bottom of a 12-oz glass.
• Set the phin filter over the glass. Remove the top screen from the filter, add coffee, then screw the top screen.
• Pour a tablespoon of hot water into filter which allows the coffee grounds to bloom.
• Once the coffee begins to drop, slowly add water ( I only used about 2/3 cup) until it reaches the top of filter.
• Place the lid and let coffee drip for about 4 minutes.
• If coffee stops dripping, gently loosen screw to relieve pressure.
• Stir it with condensed milk. Taste and adjust sweetness as needed.
• Pour it over disposable cups or popsicle molds.
• Cut plastic wrap into small square and cover it. Insert craft stick ( I cut mine into half) through the plastic so it stays in the center of the cup.
• Let it freeze overnight or until frozen solid. To release popsicles, run hot water on the outside of popsicle molds for a 2-3 seconds.

** I  like my coffee on the strong side but feel free to adjust sweetener based of your preference. Also, I find that Vietnamese coffee in liquid form tasted sweeter than when it was frozen.