This week's popsicle is VERY coconut-ey. If you don't like coconut, you will NOT like this popsicle. But if you do like coconut. Oh man. The base is pure coconut milk, with a bit of sweetness thrown in. If I were to make these popsicles on a day that was not Easter, I would cover the entire popsicle in the toasted coconut flakes. That may seem overly devoted, but that is just how much I love a flaked and then toasted piece of coconut flesh. I DID make these popsicles on Easter, and thus I added in little pastel eggs and just enough coconut to make a nest to cradle the egg. I purchased all natural food coloring very much by mistake for a holiday cookie decorating soiree. I paid the price that December night as people attempted to frost trees, presents, and gingerbread with soft pastels. However, I resurrected myself (ha!) and finally got a bit of use out of the weak, weak, natural food dyes. As is always true with popsicles, patience is the name of the game. Coconut Popsicles
Yield: 4 popsicles | Prep Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 6 hours Ingredients 1 can full fat coconut milk 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp sweetener of choice 1/4 cup coconut flakes Directions Combine coconut milk and sweetener. Pour into molds. Freeze until solid. Toast coconut flakes until lightly brown. Mix in sweetener and coat popsicles in flakes. Freeze until set.
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My first memories of St. Patrick's Day are specific moments. The night Fiona and I saw green lights coming from the bush across the street: peering beyond the concrete from behind our expansive windows, kneeled against the couch, already in our pajamas, all of the books mom and dad had read us about leprechauns becoming real. Or the day we Irish danced in the back of the local Irish pub for so long that my legs gave out and my little wig-laden body fell to the floor. But my strongest memory of St. Patrick's Day is not a scene. It is a thread--a constantly changing image--not in one specific kitchen or time. It is my dad, wearing a flannel and adidas sweatpants, hands sticky with buttermilked-up flour, peering over his favorite Jesuit bread baking book, making his yearly week of Irish Soda Bread loaves. He would make it at night, with promises of us being able to eat it come morning. But he would inevitably cave, cutting us off a bit of the large, flat loaf before bed. Of course, an irish soda bread popsicle would NOT work. So instead, this week's popsicle celebrates St. Patrick's day in a much more light-hearted way: lucky charms cereal milk!
Cereal Milk Panna Cotta Popsicles Yield: 6 popsicles | Prep Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 6 hours Ingredients 1/2 cup of your favorite cereal 2 cups milk 1/3 cup brown sugar ½ tsp sea salt 1 (1/4-ounce) packet unflavored gelatin Directions Combine cereal and milk in a large jar and mix aggressively. Let stand at room temperature to infuse for about 20-30 minutes. Strain cereal out. Add in brown sugar and salt. Warm 1/2 cup of cereal milk and pour gelatin in. Once homogeneous, mix in the rest of the cereal milk. Pour mixture into molds, populating with extra cereal if you wish. Freeze until solid. Yesterday's birthday, as all birthdays should be, was spent eating birthday popsicles and contemplating our ever present hurtle towards the end. I kid! Not about the popsicle part, though. Birthday Cake Popsicles
Yield: 6 popsicles | Prep Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 7 hours Ingredients One packet pudding mix Confetti birthday cake, baked in a sheet pan and cut into cubes Sprinkles Directions Prepare pudding according to instructions. Mix sprinkles into pudding. Place cubes of cake into molds and pour pudding in around them. Freeze until solid. Egg nog is, of course, one of the most controversial holiday treats. Thus, it is my favorite. Creamy and indulgent to the point of having no explanation, egg nog takes you to a place that no other beverage takes you. It was a clear choice for one of the project's holiday popsicles. No recipe! Just pour your favorite egg nog into your mold and freeze until solid. If you do not yet have a favorite egg nog, it is time to have an egg nog taste test!
This week's popsicle accompanied the hot chocolate at our house's secret snowman/cookie decorating soiree. Hot Cocoa-->Marshmallow Popsicles
Yield: Many marshmallow popsicles | Prep Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 4 hours Ingredients 1/2 cup powdered sugar for coating dish/marshmallows 1 1/2 envelopes unflavored gelatin 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup light corn syrup 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Directions Rub your dish (where you will let the marshmallows set) with a neutral oil and dust with powdered sugar. Put 1/4 cup water in a stand mixer and sprinkle gelatin over the top. Bring 1/4 cup water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt to a boil. Take the mixture off of the heat when it reaches 240°. Give the gelatin mixture a stir to make sure it is soft, then start slowly drizzling in the sugar mixture, whisking faster and faster. When the mixture starts to become solid, beat in vanilla. Pour into mold and let harden. Grate chocolate over the nearly hardened mixture. Once solid, cut into popsicle shape, insert sticks into the center of the marshmallow, and roll sticky, exposed sides in more powdered sugar. As a three year old, my only christmas wish was for a pink candy cane. I was young, my desires were humble, and my tongue motor skills were not complex enough to generate anything more than the words "pink tandy tane" when asked what I was hoping for on Christmas day. My parents, owning a car and having the current day equivalent of two US dollars, were able to make my wish come true. Now I ask for things like motor boats and race horses, but I like to think that the young girl who only wanted a pink candy cane is still inside of me. This week's popsicle is an homage to that. Candy Cane Popsicles
Yield: 4 small popsicles | Prep Time: 6.5 hours | Total Time: 6 hours Ingredients 4 cups milk (I used almond milk) 2 tbsp chopped peppermint leaves or 2 peppermint tea bags 2 tbsp white sugar Red food coloring Directions Steep your milk with chopped peppermint leaves or tea bags, making sure that the mint flavor is fully present, but without coloring the milk. For the leaves, this should take about thirty minutes on medium low heat. Mix in sugar to desired sweetness. Split mixture into two jars. Add a few drops of red food coloring to one jar and mix. Add thin layers of each mixture every thirty minutes (depending on how cold your freezer is) to your molds. Don't forget to add in your popsicle stick after a few stripes. Thanksgiving season is upon us. To get things started, I made a thanksgiving themed brunch for my house. The brunch needed a popsicle, so I went with cranberry-apple: cranberries and granny smith apples cooked low and slow in a big pot. When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of many things (buckle up, readers, for a long November of me talking about what I am grateful for). One main thing that I think of is Eve making popovers with cranberry butter. As children, Eve and I entered in multiple baking contests. For one Thanksgiving themed contest, Eve entered alone, with her popover and cranberry butter recipe. She didn't win. We never won. We were eleven year olds competing against actual bakeries in San Francisco. But she made a mean popover. All this to say that popovers (I made sage ones for this brunch to go with the eggs and the hash) and cranberries make me smile. Young competitors thanksgiving themed brunch menu of cranberry-orange morning rolls, maple+sweet potato+bacon hash, and sage popovers Cranberry Apple Popsicles
Yield: 6 popsicles | Prep Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 7 hours Ingredients 4 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped 1 cup fresh cranberries 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 cup orange juice Directions Boil apples and cranberries in 4 cups of water until broken down. Add sugar and simmer until fragrant. Strain and add orange juice to liquid to taste (depends on how tart you want your popsicle to be). Pour in molds and freeze until solid. Serve alone or with sparkling water. My favorite item at the bakery I worked at in high school was the pie cookie. Two small, round pieces of flaky crust with whatever fruit was in season baked into the middle. They were adorable, easy to sell, and clever. This popsicle attempts to recreate that concept, while bringing in a frozen element and the necessity of whipped cream to pumpkin pie. Pumpkin Pie Popsicles
Yield: 6 pair-popsicles | Prep Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 8 hours Ingredients Vanilla ice cream (use this recipe) One sheet store-bought puff pastry 3/4 cup pumpkin puree 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice Directions Prepare vanilla ice cream per recipe. Pour into molds and freeze until solid. Preheat oven to 350°. Roll out store bought puff pastry sheets. Using a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter, cut twelve pumpkins in puff pastry and place six onto a baking sheet. In a bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, one egg, and pumpkin pie spice. Spoon mixture onto six of the pumpkin rounds. In a separate bowl, mix together one egg and a bit of water. Brush edges of puff pastry pumpkins and lay remaining six rounds over the six rounds with mixture on them. Using a fork, crimp edges to hold together. Brush remaining egg wash over the top of each. Sprinkle with sugar and cut small holes in the top of each to help release steam. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, insert popsicle sticks, and let cool. Serve warm with vanilla popsicle. At the beginning of this fall, Ken and I set out to make one butternut squash centered recipe every week. Like little fools we assumed that each week's pursuit would be savory. Then, one cold Providence Monday, Ken looked at me and said "what if we make...butternut squash ice cream?" If you have seen the social network, or either version of the Steve Jobs movies, you can probably get a good picture in your mind of what the air in the room felt like. Butternut Squash Popsicles
Yield: 6 popsicles | Prep Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 8 hours Ingredients 1/2 butternut squash Vanilla ice cream (use this recipe) Directions Roast butternut squash at 350° for an hour (I wrapped mine in tin foil so that I didn't have to introduce any oil flavor into the mix). Prepare vanilla ice cream per recipe. Once mixture is prepared, divide into three equal parts. Pour first third into popsicle molds and chill until almost solid. Blend 2/3 of roasted butternut squash into second third of ice cream mixture. Pour on top of white layer and freeze until almost solid. Blend 1/3 of roasted butternut squash into final third of ice cream mixture. Pour on top of dark orange layer and freeze until solid. I wanted to make a spooky popsicle for October. I did not want to make THIS spooky of a popsicle for October. I was the toddler/elementary schooler/middle schooler/high schooler/ current person who was terrified of most Halloween decorations, costumes, etc. I think these popsicles exist firmly on the terrifying side of Halloween, and not on the cute, fun side that I guess I thought I would arrive at while...trying to make a blood popsicle (?). You never know where art will take you. Lemon Pomegranate Blood Popsicles
Yield: 6 popsicles | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 6 hours Ingredients 2 1/2 cups lemonade 1/3 c pomegranate juice Directions Pour lemonade into molds and freeze until solid. As the popsicles near the end of their freezing period, put pomegranate juice into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce juice until it has formed a thick syrup, about 20 minutes. Once the popsicles are solid, remove them from molds and place upright in freezer. Pour pomegranate syrup over popsicles. Freeze until syrup is solid. |