Coconut Almond Fudgesicles

We used the recipe from this bog: The Little Red House for Coconut Almond Fudgesicles. 

Once again, we chose a recipe with very simple ingredients: 

1 banana

2 cups vanilla almond milk

1 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

One Simple Step:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth

Wait about ten minutes. 

(This made enough for 3-4 batches of pops, so we saved about half in the fridge for another day.)

Cool, healthy and refreshing! All of the flavors balanced out really well--it was the perfect amount of chocolate and not too much banana. A big hit at our house!

Basil Lemonade Pops!

It's been hard to justify using the Zoku with the weather in San Francisco always around 60 degrees.  But yesterday was a high of 82!  It was amazing!  So here's my stab at Basil Lemonade popsicles!  They were delicious!  I found this recipe online.  I used a bit less sugar and added some honey instead.  It takes forever to cool the simple syrup -- so consider submerging the small pot into an ice cold water bath to quicken the process.  These were tart, but yummy!  I only needed 5 small lemons -- but they were really ripe and juicy.  It ends up making likely enough for 6 (but i only made 3).

Basil Lemonade Pops, adapted from Perfect Pops.

 

Ingredients:

1. 2/3 Cup Sugar

2. 1 1/3 Cup Water, divided

3. A few leafy sprigs of Basil, divided

4. 2/3 cup freshly squeezed Lemon Juice (about 4 or 5 lemons worth)

5. Zest of one lemon

Directions:

1. Combine sugar and 2/3 Cup water along with a sprig or two of Basil in a small sauce pan.  Heat over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is simmering (you've just made Basil Simple Syrup).  

2. Pour into a small bowl and add Lemon Zest.  Let sit to cool completely while the basil and lemon zest continue to steep.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a larger bowl to remove solids.

3. Wisk in Lemon Juice and remaining 2/3 Cup water.  Chop remaining Basil just before you mix it into the Lemonade.

4. Pour Lemonade Basil mixture into molds and insert sticks.  Be sure to leave a little space at the top to allow for expansion when the mixture freezes.

5. Freeze until firm, about 6 hours or up to 1 day.  Makes 6 to 8 Pops.

6. To unmold pops, run hot water over the outside of the molds, squeeze gently, and gently pull on the sticks to release pops.  Store leftover Pops in their molds until you're ready to serve.  These stay good for up to a week.

Optional: Skip the Lemon Zest and add 2 or 3 TBS of Limoncello instead for an adult version of these summery, refreshing pops.  You don't want to add too much of the liqueur though, or they won't freeze solid.  

Enjoy!  The basil bits will float at the top of the molds (or rather, the bottom of the finished popsicles) but that's OK because the flavor still permeates and they look so pretty.  

TARTUFO

Tartufo is an ice cream dessert found in Italian-American restaurants. Traditionally it is a scoop of vanilla ice cream with maraschino cherries on the inside and a hard chocolate shell on the outside. This recipe is the popsicle version.
Vanilla Base:
8 oz vanilla pudding
1/2 cup of water
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla

Whisk together the vanilla base ingredients until sugar has dissolved. Cut maraschino cherries into quarters to place inside popsicle mold.
You can place a sliced cherry on top. We used a strawberry instead since we ran out of cherries.





This was dessert for Valentine's Day dinner and it was a hit. It was Matthew and Tom's first Popsicle tasting!

Ann & Guido

PAPAYA POPSICLES

We were given a large fruit basket by a patient which included a beautiful, ripe papaya. So, I googled recipes which included papaya in its ingredients and found this one. It is really a papaya/coconut/lime popsicle recipe as each flavor is very important to the overall taste. The hardest thing was to find coconut cream, not coconut milk, but the Kahala Times had a few cans as it is also used in pina coladas. The base was also a bit thick so we used a chopstick to push it to the bottom and to make sure there were no air bubbles. Here goes the recipe:

1 small papaya--seeded, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup water
1 oz of fresh lime juice (must be fresh squeezed!!!)
2 oz of cream of coconut

I used a medicine cup from Charlotte's liquid allergy medicine to measure the ounces!!
The cups are great for small measurements that these recipes call for.

Apple Cider Popsicles

While normal people (at least those in temperate climate zones) are heating up their apple cider this time of year, we are freezing ours to make popsicles. They don't know what they're missing...

-Kirk and Emily

MORE CHOCOLATE POP RECIPES FROM THE ZOKU BOOK

SALTY MILK CHOCOLATE BUTTERSCOTCH

3/4 cup water
2 oz milk chocolate chopped
1 1 /2 oz butterscotch chips (just under 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp half& half
1/4 tsp salt

In small pan over low heat, whisk together the water, chocolate and butterscotch chips until the chips have melted( do not boil). Rmove from the heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in the half& half and salt. refrigerate until cool whisking occasionally to prevent a skin from forming. Put base into popmaker and freeze completely. Remove with super tool.

MALTED MILK BALL

3/4 cup whole milk
4 oz vanilla pudding
1/3 heavy cream
1/3 cup Ovaltine classic malt mix
1 1/2 tsp agave nectoar
12 large malted milk balls chopped into pieces

Whisk malted base ( everthing except milk balls). Pour base into popmaker, pausing to add pieces of chopped malted milk balls as you pour. Freeze and remove with Super tool.

Recipes for Chocolate Popsicle from the Zoku Book

Here are the recipes from the chocolate popsicle section of the book.

NUTTY CHOCOLATE PRETZEL

12 mini chocolate-covered pretels
1 Oh Fudge recipe:
1 cup water
2 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
1/3 cup 2% milk
1 tbsp half & half
wisk together chocolate, sugar, water and salt over low heat. when chocolate is melted, let cool slightly and then whisk in milk and half & half.refrig until cook

12 lightly-salted peanuts, split into halves
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 recipe chocolate quick shell:
2/3 cup semii-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup refined coconut oil
wisk together and then melt in double boiler ( pan on top of pan with boiling water)
let come to room temperature and then and then dip pops

add one or two mini chocolate-covered pretzels to pop maker mold and inset stick to secure them into place. pour cooled chocolate base into molds, pausing to drop in peanut halves (4 per pop) until you reach fill line. let freeze and then remove with super tool. Hold pop flat side facing up and sprinkle chopped peanuts on top. Use a spoon to drizzle Quick Shell over pop and wait a few seconds until the shell hardens to hold nuts in place.


THAT'S A SMORE

1 Oh Fudge recipe
30 mini marshmellows
1/4 cup crumbled graham crackers
1 recipe white chocolate quick shell( sub white choc chips)

Insert sticks and pour cooled chocolate base 1/4 way up mold ( about 1 tbsp). Add 1 or2 marshmellows to each side of sticks, pushing down with chopstickand let freeze completely. add about 1 tsp of crumbled graham crackers and pack down with blunt end of chopstick to create a dense layer. repeat layering until you reach fill line. Let freeze completely and remove with Super tool. Dip in white chocolate quick shell.



ASKINOSIE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE

3/4 cup water
2 oz Askinosie Del Tambo or other 70% dark chocolate, chopped
3 tbsp sugar
3 1/2 tbsp 2% milk
1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tsp water

EXTRAS:
4 oz of dark chocolate for quick shell
1/3 cup coconut oil for quick shell
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios, toasted
1 fudge brownie

whisk together 3/4 cup water, 2 oz chocolate,and sugar over very low heat until chocolate is melted.(do not boil). let cool slightly and then whisk in the 2% mil, condensed milk and 1 1/2 tsp water. refrigerate until cook, whisking occasionally to prevent a skin from forming.

make the Quick Shell using dark chocolate. Put sticks into popmaker and pour chocolate base, pausing to add pistachios and brownie pieces on each side of sticks until you reach the fill line. let freeze completely and then remove with Super Tool. Dip pops into Chocolate quick shell and immediately sprinkle with pistachios.

Ok...will post the other two later!!!

Fridge fixed!

My fridge has been fixed! Look for some entries from me next week!

Speaking of which, mom can you send me some of the chocolate recipes? I am having a "chocolate-themed" dinner party next weekend and would love to make some chocolate pops!

Yay!
Mia

MINT POPS

I wanted to try something a bit different and also use up the heavy cream left in the fridge. So, I followed the Mint Pop recipe in the Zoku book but used 1/2 heavy cream and 1/2 skim milk instead of whole milk. The recipe is as follows:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 Tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate chips to place in the mold before pouring. Dip chips in the base mixture before placing...something I forgot to do and they all went to the bottom! The last challenge was to make a chocolate quick shell to dip the finished product in. This was actually very easy. All that was needed was to melt chocolate chips and coconut oil over boiling water (double boiler) and let it cool. The finished result looks very pretty and it was easy to get a professional-looking result. Supposedly we can keep the leftover quick shell in the fridge and just let it get to room temperature before using again.

The taste test: excellent...if you love mint chocolate chip ice cream you will LOVE these!!!

GRANDPOP POP

We used Grandad's favorite Margarita Mix watered down with pineapple juice to make the base.

However we added a very special ingredient.

Watch the video to see if you can figure out what the special popsicle ingredient is.

This popsicle is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Kirk and I have finally entered the race with this delicious, award-winning popsicle. And the best part is - the recipe is so simple!

3 parts Orange Pineapple Banana juice
1 part seltzer water (sodastream encouraged, but not required)
bananas to taste

Viola!

...and the winner is

Today, I will gladly take the crown for most inventive, tastiest, most awesome, yet easiest popsicle. Yes, folks, I believe I have won the competition with this one.

First step was to place the order for the mystery ingredient. When it arrived, it seriously was packaged like cocaine. No kidding. See image below.

While unwrapping, I was a bit nervous that I didn't get what I ordered. Luckily, it was correct! And the mystery ingredient is....



This popsicle is SO easy because the one and only ingredient is inherently amazing, tasty, flavorful, awesome etc. Directions: Pour Inca Kola into the mold until you hit the fill line. Freeze. Enjoy.

Final Product:

Tip: Underfill the mold! I believe the carbonation from the Inca Kola caused the popsicle to rise when freezing. I only filled the mold to the fill line, yet when I pulled out the frozen popsicle, it was overflowing somewhat. It was still awesome.

What's the award? A crown? A trophy? Feel free to send it to my address in New Orleans. ;-)

Love you all!!!!!

NYE Pops!

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou everyone! Happy New Year! 2012 is going to be a great year, we're so excited for it.

In the spirit of New Year's Eve, we decided to do a NYE themed pop. Again, we didn't use a recipe, just our creativity! We mixed Passion Fruit Mojito Mix with Champagne (equal parts) and added in some fresh crushed raspberries.

What we found is that the alcohol takes a bit longer to freeze. We gave it about 30 min before eating. And voila...picture below!


Other tip is that the raspberries didn't fall to the bottom as we'd hoped. I suppose the popsicles freeze too quickly for natural gravity to take part. Nonetheless, they were pretty good!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!