Nothing makes me more excited than photographing passion. To have the honor of capturing someone’s life work, something that they are so incredibly proud of, is to me what photography is all about. The purpose of photography is to capture a snippet in time, those stories that often do not make into the headlines.

While in Crete, we had the opportunity to meet Antonis Papayannakis, a beekeeper producing some of the most delicious thyme honey I have ever tasted. I was a total idiot, arriving at the farm in a skirt, short sleeve blouse, and sandals. I was immediately told that I would need pants and socks. Because well bees will fly up your skirt, duh. Absolutely embarrassing tourist moment. Luckily Antonis’s wife was able to loan me a pair of pants and socks. We then donned beekeeper’s gear, alien headpiece and all, and headed down to see Antonis’s bees. Antonis walked us through the process of producing honey and explained how bee society works, something that I have always found super fascinating. He spent sometime looking for the queen and we were able to use the opportunity to capture some amazing shots of a beekeeper in action.

This visit really made me yearn for the simpler way of life, where citrus trees abound and waist-high artichokes are there for the taking. In addition to his bees, Antonis’s property was gorgeously dotted with all sorts of trees, from bergamot, to loquats, to avocado. He even had several turkeys gobbling away looking super weird. Here, dinner is simply a matter of going out into the garden and seeing what is ready to be eaten. What a dream right? But at the same time, beekeeping is truly hard work with rather low returns. Antonis explained to us that while the flora in Greece is varied and abundant, rainfall is limited on the island and thus the yearly blooming season is very short. As a result, his yearly honey yield is always rather low. This is definitely not the career to get rich on. Only the very passionate would choose this for their life. It was obvious to us all that Antonis loved his work and found great satisfaction and contentment in producing this pure and wonderful product.

I really wanted to create a recipe that would honor this gorgeous honey and several of the other wonderful flavors I experienced in Greece. What better way than to do a popsicle? The simplicity and limited amount of cooking required for a popsicle means that the purity and vibrancy of the ingredients are retained. So in addition to the honey I decided to do Greek yogurt, saffron, some seasonal cherries, and a sesame crumble. While in Greece, I ate multiple bowls of greek yogurt every morning. I’m not usually much of a yogurt eater because I try not to eat too much dairy. But after tasting the yogurt being served at Milia, I had to make an exception. Lusciously creamy and full bodied, this is definitely not the 1% stuff usually found in the US. Requiring only a drizzle of local honey and scoop of fresh apples, this was literal heaven. I am thinking about experimenting with making my own yogurt but until then I used some store bought Greek yogurt for this recipe. Just make sure you are using full fat yogurt here. Something I learned on this trip is that Greek saffron is some of the best in the world. Krokos, a small town in the Macedonia region of Greece produces one of the world’s most intense and valuable varieties. So to the yogurt, I decided add some saffron threads that I brought back with me. Of course if you do not have any Greek saffron, other types will work as well. Saffron adds a singular flavor that I absolutely love and of course the gorgeous golden yellow tone that it is known for. The sesame crumble was inspired by a sesame brittle that Antonis served us along with his honey. It is very simply fragrant toasted sesame seeds mixed with honey. I think it adds a lovely texture and nutty savoriness to the popsicle, balancing out the rich creaminess of the yogurt and the tart sweetness of the cherries. And finally the cherries, well they are currently in season and one of my favorite fruits so that is why I included them. In this recipe, we are roasting whole cherries with honey and a small pinch of salt. This concentrates the cherry flavor and creates a much better texture than raw cherries for freezing. I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

This recipe is in celebration of #popsicleweek . Make sure to go here for the full list of popsicles everyone else is bringing to the party!

Also, it is that time of the year again! The SAVEUR Magazine Blog Awards. Thanks in large part to you guys, I was honored with reader’s choice for best photography last year. This was a absolute dream come true. In the last year, I have made leaps and bounds in my photography and I hope that you can see that. I am hoping to cover more stories like this one about the human element behind food and of course you can always count on HelloMyDumpling.com for adventurous recipes full of bold and unexpected flavors. I would love it if you could support me again this year by clicking below to vote for me in Best Photography. Just like last year, you can vote repeatedly and OFTEN! Nominations are open until Wednesday, July 19th. xx Jenny

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S A F F R O N  Y O G U R T  P O P S  W/ R O A S T E D
C H E R R I E S  +  S E S A M E  C R U M B L E
makes 6

15 cherries (I used bing but your favorite will do)
6 tablespoons good pure honey (I used thyme honey)
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1/4 cup whole milk
1 1 cup full fat Greek yogurt
1/3 cup sesame seeds

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the whole cherries in a pie pan and toss with 2 tablespoons honey and a pinch of salt. Roast for 8-10 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye the honey can burn easily. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, remove the stems and deseed. Use a food processor to break the cherries into rough chunks. Set aside.

While the cherries are in the oven, heat the milk to just pre-boil and add the saffron treads to the warm milk. Use a spoon to mix the milk releasing the color and flavor of the saffron. Once the milk is cool, add in the yogurt and 3 tablespoons of honey and gently whisk to fully incorporate.

In a pan, toast the sesame seeds over medium heat. They are ready when slightly darkened and super fragrant. mix in 1 tablespoon of honey. Set aside.

To freeze the popsicles, spoon about 1 1/2 tablepoons of the yogurt mixture into the bottom of the popsicle mold. Then add a couple clumps of the sesame seed crumble. press them partially into the yogurt mixture. Next add 1 tablespoon of the cherries. Repeat these three steps once and then finish with one more yogurt layer. Make 5 more popsicles. Freeze for about 8 hours or until fully frozen. Enjoy!

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