Watermelon Popsicle

Anand has a massive sweet tooth. If he goes grocery shopping by himself, he may even forget to get the very first item on the list, but will unfailingly bring home items not on the list - such as a tub of ice-cream, a bar of cookies, a bag of chocolates, a box of candies, etc. He literally gets the unmistakable kid-at-a-candy-store glaze in his eyes if he stumbles into a specialty chocolate store, or even the candy aisle. We walked into a Lindt store recently, and boy, for the first time ever, I saw him flustered, unable to make a decision on what to get. Finally, he rationalized that the below massive mug of chocolates was the biggest bang for his buck (and palate). The most incredulous and mildly infuriating part is, despite his candy obsession, he has awesome, healthy, pearly white teeth! 

His current fascination has been towards Popsicles. For the last several weeks, his favorite post-dinner routine has been to stretch on the couch with a popsicle in hand (and mouth), and relax in front of the TV. He fondly related nostalgic stories of how as a kid he used to lust after the “kuchi-ice” sold in front of his school, and how his mom always forbade him from licking on such unhealthy, unhygienic treats. I think he is making up for it by licking away one popsicle a day now ;).

Since I agree with his mom, and am also wary of the artificial colors and additives running through such treats, I decided to buy a set of popsicle molds. They are easily available at the stores and online, and are BPA free.  

Fill up the mold with any juice of your choice - it can be store bought juices, or home made ones. If home made, dice the fruit/s, and puree it with a bit of sugar/honey, and other flavorings (such as vanilla extract, chocolate syrup, maple syrup etc.). Pour the juice into the molds (leaving about 1 inch room for the popsicle to freeze). Place the molds in the freezer for 4+ hours (or overnight), and you have home-made, additive free, relatively healthy popsicles! You can even try filling the molds with ice-cream and sorbet.

I tried it with watermelons recently. I pureed the watermelons as is and prepared the popsicles. Watermelons are usually quite sweet, but of course, this batch didn’t have enough sugar to appease Anand :). So next time around, I should add a teaspoon or so of sugar to the juice.

This is a healthy substitute for store-bought popsicles, and is a great way to allure (fool) kids into having their fruits. It’s all in the fancy packaging and presentation!