It's 43 degrees here in Sydney today withbushfires roaring throughout New South Wales. We're lucky enough not to be affected by it here in inner Sydney, but we're thinking about everyone (incl. the animals) who are affected and all the firefighters helping to protect people & property.
While the weather is so hot in many parts of Australia, I thought I'd do a roundup ofsome of my favouriteicypoles (or popsicles) that can be made at home for those hot summer days (like today!)
- 16 ounces cold water
- 1 ounce orange blossom water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- plain stevia drops (or yourfavouritesweetener or honey)
- handful of organic edible flowers, rinsed and remove petals
1. Have pop molds handy and make sure you have room in your freezer.
2. Combine water, orange blossom water and lemon juice. Sweeten to taste.
3. Pour mixture intomoulds.
4. Freeze without sticks and petals for about 1 hour.
5. Remove from freezer and add flower petals. You can push them into the molds with the help of a long, skinny spoon or pop stick. Make sure the flowers are scattered throughout the pops.
6. Add sticks and freeze for 2-3 hours more until solid.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup room temperature water
- 3 cups cold water
- 1 cup lemon juice
- 3 teaspoons grenadine
- 4 Tazo Passion tea bags
- 3 to 4 cups boiling water
1. Create simple syrup: Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place the saucepan over medium heat. Stir the mixture occasionally to help it dissolve, if necessary, then remove the saucepan from the heat when the sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.
2. Pour the lemon juice (either fresh squeezed or store bought is fine) into a pitcher. Dilute the lemonade with the cold water, then add the simple syrup and stir thoroughly to combine.
3. Create additional batches of the basic lemonade for the other flavors. To create pink lemonade, add the grenadine and stir thoroughly to combine. To create the Passion tea lemonade, steep the tea bags in the boiling water. If you’d prefer a stronger Passion flavor, use a lower amount of water, as the lemonade will dilute it (I generally use, and recommend, only three cups for a more concentrated flavor). Set the tea aside to cool, then combine with the base lemonade recipe.
4. To assemble the popsicles, arrange a line of small paper cups in a line and pour in the desired amount of lemonade. To create even, equal sections as shown, I used a ¼ cup measuring spoon to measure out the liquid. When all the cups are filled with their first flavor layer, carefully transfer them to the freezer and let them set for about 30 minutes or untilalmostsolid through – soft enough to insert the stick, but firm enough to support it. Insert the popsicle stick part way through the first layer (but not clean through to the bottom of the cup). Transfer the cups back to the freezer to allow the first layer to set completely.
5. Continue to add additional layers of the various flavors as desired, ensuring each layer is allowed to be frozen through before continuing. If the layer isn’t completely set, you may get a little bleeding between the layers rather than a crisp line (which you may prefer!). Stop creating layers once the cup is about ¾ of the way full to avoid any accidental overflow. After the last layer is frozen, serve when ready by ripping open the paper cup.
- 2cup raspberries
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup white cherries, pit removed, chopped
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 cup superfine sugar
- 1 1/4 cups full-fat yogurt
- Place the popsicles moulds in the freezer.
- Add the raspberries and sugar to a blender and pulse into pureed. Strain through a fine sieve and pour into the bottom of the popsicle moulds.
- In a clean blender, add in the white cherries, lemon juice, superfine sugar and yogurt and puree.
- Once the raspberries have been in the mould for about an hour, add in the white cherry yogurt mix on top and freeze until cold.
- Run warm water over the sides of the moulds to release the popsicles. Serves 6.
Makes 8
- 8 oz mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries, olallieberries, etc.)
- juice of 1 lime, freshly squeezed
- 3½ Tbspn sugar
- 16 oz Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbspn coconut milk (with cream)
- big pinch of salt
1. Mix together the berries, lime juice, and 1 Tbspn of sugar. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then mash roughly with a fork. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the Greek yogurt, coconut milk (with cream), 2 1/2 Tbspn of sugar, and salt. Fold in the berries — juice and all — but make sure to leave streaks.
3. Fill ice pop molds and freeze for about 30 minutes to an hour, then insert ice pop sticks halfway. Freeze until solid — about 4 hours or overnight.
4. To unmold, dip the popsicle molds in running water or leave out for a few minutes.
Note on coconut milk: make sure to stir together the cream and milk in the coconut milk before using.
Makes 8
- 2 cupsGreek Yogurt
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1 cup mixed berries, washed (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries)
Instructions
- Blend yogurt and honey together in a large bowl. Fold mixed berries in. Transfer into a container with a spout so the mixture can be poured into popsicle molds. Fill popsicle molds close the top and put in popsicle sticks. Freeze for 3 hours or overnight.
- You can use any of the remaining mixture and blend it with some ice for a yogurt berry smoothie!
Makes 8-10
- 14 chocolate wafer cookies, about 4 oz (125g) total weight
- 1/4 cup (2 oz/60g)superfinesugar
- 1/4 cup water (2 fl oz/60mL)
- 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125mL) sour cream
- 1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60mL) whole milk
- 1 cup (8 fl oz/250mL) heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Working in a small bowl, crumble the cookies to make pieces about the size of peas.
2. In a bowl, stir together the sugar and 1/4 cup (2fl oz/60mL) water until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the sour cream, milk, cream, and vanilla. Add the crumbled chocolate cookies and stir to mix.
3. If using conventional pop molds, divide the mixture across the molds. Cover and freeze until solid, at least 4 hours or up to 3 days. If using sticks, insert them into the molds when the pops are partially frozen, after about 1 hour, then freeze until solid, at least 3 more hours.
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
- 1 (8 ounce) tub frozen whipped topping, thawed
- 12 Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies, finely chopped (see note below)
1. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add in the extracts and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the whipped topping until until it is fully incorporated into the cream cheese mixture. Fold in mint chocolate cookies.
2. Spoon the filling into a pastry bag or large zip top bag. Snip enough of the end off the bag to allow you pipe the mixture into your popsicle molds. Once your molds are full, gently tap the popsicle mold base on the countertop to help release any air pockets. Freeze according the manufacturers directions.
3. If desired, garnish each popsicle with Magic Shell and chopped cookies.
Tip: If you have an issue releasing your popsicles from the molds, run a little warm water along the sides of the molds, this will usually cause them to release with ease.
