chocolate coconut non-dairy popsicles

I've made these popsicles with two different recipes now, and each time they came out great! Although, both times I didn't start out with the intention to make popsicles :)

The first time I made these, I had meant to make non-dairy chocolate coconut ice cream, from the Bi-Rite book "Sweet Dreams and Sugar Cones". While the resulting ice cream had ended up tasting great, it was rock hard and almost impossible to scoop! Even after letting it thaw a bit, my scoops came out in jagged pieces. So I placed the whole container of ice cream in the refrigerator and let it melt down overnight, before re-freezing the mixture in this awesome popsicle mold.

Yummy!

The second time I made these, I had meant to make a chocolate coconut whipped frosting, for non-dairy cupcakes that I was making for my friend Reggie's daughter (who is allergic to cow's milk). I found this recipe at Oh She Glows, except that I added about 4 tablespoons of good cocoa powder, but even though I had separated the coconut cream from the milk, it still would not whip up stiff enough to be piped as frosting! So instead, I froze the mixture as popsicles, this time using a Hello Kitty popsicle mold that Reggie had bought me for a past birthday. :)

I'm so glad that both times I was able to turn my failed desserts into delicious popsicles!

orange creamsicle ice cream

My mom has been bringing bags and bags full of oranges to our house every weekend, much more than we can finish.  I was trying to think  of what I could make with all these oranges, possibly some kind of sherbet or sorbet?  A quick glance at my David Lebovitz ice cream book led me to what I was looking for .... orange creamsicle ice cream!

The recipe calls for grated orange zest in addition to freshly squeezed orange juice - perfect for using up lots of oranges!  And with the recent warm weather, orange creamsicles in ice cream form sounded perfect.

After blending up the orange zest with sugar, and then adding yogurt and heavy cream, it was ready to be churned.  The resulting ice cream was fresh, creamy, and perfectly orangey.  If you've ever had Orange Julius, that's what it reminded me of.  I'll definitely be making this one again!

fresh grape popsicles

Recently we've been making lots of popsicles for my son, even before the warm weather came on.  At first we just used orange juice, but then one weekend we had an abundance of grapes in the fridge, and I decided to use them to make fresh grape popsicles.

I used the same recipe for fresh grape sorbet that I had made before.   After simmering the grapes on the stove with a little bit of water, I pressed them into a strainer to extract all of the juice.  Then I added honey and a little bit of sugar.  And then I just froze the mixture in my popsicle trays instead of churning it in the ice cream maker.

They turned out great!  The popsicles had a very, very intense grape flavor.  Everyone loved them.  I'm going to try making all my popsicles with fresh fruit from now on!