Pineapple Strawberry and Mint Granita & Popsicle

Granita is flavored ice crystals or ice chips. At least, that's how I have always understood it. It has been quite popular the last few years as a palate cleanser and a light, refreshing dessert following a heavy meal. Since I am not a fan of ice-based desserts, I never really caught on to it. This summer, as I was filling up some popsicle molds, I thought why not just freeze some in a tray and scrape it up to make granita? If the family liked it, then why not? Popsicles are anyway such permanent fixtures in our freezer that I thought my husband wouldn't complain of a little variety.

When I was scraping the granita, both my mom and husband were excited because it reminded them of the shaved ice that they used to get in front of their school, which of course, they were not allowed to eat! So, they both preferred the granita version more than the popsicle. The scraping is a bit more work, but if the frozen mixture sits out for 5 minutes, it is easier to scrape (an obvious statement)

Strawberry and Yogurt-Cream Popsicle

It's summer time.

And that's means Popsicle time!
And all things sweet, tart, and cold.

So, here is a simple take on Strawberry Cheesecake on a stick. You get the sweet, soft, and creamy flavors of a strawberry cheesecake without the extra calories and effort.

Ingredients (makes 6 popsicles):

1. 1.5 cups sliced strawberries
2. 1/2 tablespoon of water
3. 1.5 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons sugar
4. 1/2 cup whipping cream (really cold, right out of the fridge)
5. 1/4 cup thick yogurt
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7. 1 teaspoon powdered ginger

Preparation:

1. Combine the water. 1.5 tablespoons sugar, and strawberries in a medium saucepan and heat on medium flame for about 10 minutes, until the strawberries are bubbly and soft. Stir occasionally and gently break down the strawberries so that they form into a nice compote. 
2. Set the strawberry compote aside and let it cool completely.
3. Whip the cold cream, vanilla extract and  2 tablespoons sugar on high speed (if you own a hand mixer or stand mixer) until the cream forms stiff peaks. 
1. Start whipping the cream and after a minute or so add the sugar and continue whipping.
2. When the cream forms soft peaks (if you stick a spatula in the cream and lift it, the cream should bend into a soft spike), add the vanilla extract and continue whipping until it forms stiff peaks (if you stick a spatula in the cream and lift it, the cream should stand on end as a firm spike)
4. Whisk the powdered ginger to the yogurt. Then, fold in the yogurt into the cream. Be gentle as you fold the yogurt in the whipped cream.
5. Ready to fill the popsicle molds! We are going to layer the mold with strawberry compote and yogurt cream.
1. Spoon in some strawberry compote into the popsicle mold.
2. Next goes the cream. To ensure that the cream is evenly layered on top of the strawberries without any gaps or air bubbles, transfer the whipped cream and yogurt into a plastic ziplock bag. Twist the bag to make a cone, cut the tip and evenly pipe the cream on top of the strawberry layer. 
3. If you would like, spoon in some more strawberry compote as a third layer. 
4. Build as many layers as you want.
6. When done, freeze the molds for at least 4 hours until everything is set. Gently remove the Popsicles from the mold by placing them in lukewarm water for a minute or two.

Enjoy the popsicles!

These popsicles aren't too sweet. So, adjust sugar and other flavoring according to taste.

Pineapple-Rosemary-Cilantro Popsicle

On one of his recent trips, Anand chanced upon an interesting popsicle flavor and recipe included in a tiny section of an airline magazine. He immediately took a picture of it and dutifully showed it to me, requesting that it be made as soon as possible. How convenient for me! :).

But these days, I can’t seem to obediently stick to a given recipe. I am always tempted to add a bit of this and that, and eliminate things that I believe won’t go well together. I was very skeptical of adding a bunch of coriander leaves (cilantro) along with pineapple. I associate cilantro with savory, aromatic dishes and not sweet, fruity dishes. Licking cilantro bits from a popsicle just didn’t fit well with my tiny flavor-related-mental-model. And so, I adapted. I’ve been experimenting with other herbs available on this side of the world, and have recently fallen in love with fresh rosemary and tarragon. Rosemary has a wonderful, lavender-like pleasant fragrance, but it doesn’t make the dish taste/smell flowery. Similarly,  Tarragon has a strong fennel-like note to it, except it is much sweeter and subtle. They are strong, aromatic herbs which go a long way in subtly enhancing the scent and flavor of a dish. A few months back, I had a rosemary-ginger-lemon soda and I swooned over the refreshing flavors! Since I was convinced that these ingredients would play very well with the sweet and tangy pineapple to give a refreshing zing to the popsicle, I added them. But Anand vehemently insisted that I add cilantro and not digress from the original recipe. And so, cilantro went in too - and I am still not in great favor of it! But Anand and other friends loved it, so I guess I’m the minority in this!

Rosemary

 
Ingredients

1. 3 cups of finely diced fresh pineapple
2. ⅓ cup of sugar
3. ½  a teaspoon of salt
4. Juice of half a lemon (or lime)
5. 2 sprigs of cilantro
6. 2 small sprigs of fresh rosemary (remove the leaves from the inedible stem)
7. a pebble-sized piece of ginger

Preparation

1. Add all the ingredients in a blender and pulse, grind, puree until smooth. Do not add any water. If it’ easier, puree the pineapples first and then add the rest of the ingredients and give it a blitz.
2. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for 4-5 hours.

 

Pineapple-rosemary-cilantro-ginger popsicle is ready! This might seem odd to many, but it did taste good and the flavors were unique. The only change I would recommend is adding mint leaves instead of cilantro to make the posicle even more refreshing. It will turn into a pineapple-mojito on a stick - without the rum ;).

Almond Kulfi

In my tradition, a person has two birthdays per year. In addition to having a zodiac sign, Indians have a lunar sign based on the star that’s present during the time of one’s birth. So we get to celebrate two birth-dates! One is based on the Solar calendar, and the other is based on the lunar calendar that predicts when our  particular “star” rises. You can imagine how much fun this is for kids! They get goodies and wishes on two days!

Since we pay more importance to the lunar calendar, the star birthday is special. So, for Anand’s star birthday, I decided to make Kulfi! Since I now own popsicle molds, I was excited and eager to try Kulfi. While Anand is a huge fan of ice creams, I am not really one. Kulfi is the only exception. And it had been ages since I had one. When I was young, rare trips to Marina beach usually ended with Kulfis. As my cousin and I competed with each other on who would eat the Kulfi the slowest (so that the winner can taunt the loser!), it would melt and drip onto our clothes and muddied slippers, much to the rage of our moms. The smell of Kulfi stained clothes, the salty beach, and the feeling of gritty sea-smelling mud transports me back to a small fragment of my childhood. So, there were so many reasons to learn to make Kulfis.

Kulfi is basically condensed milk/cream, sugar, and nuts that get frozen into popsicles. It can even be refrigerated and relished as a rich creamy dessert like rasmalai. I personally prefer the latter version to the former. No matter which version, kulfis are as delicious as they are fattening!

 
I followed the recipe from here, and the resultant Kulfis were fabulous! The only minor change was that I used almonds instead of pistachios. The recipe clearly explains every single step, and I precisely ended up with 6 Kulfis! So if you follow the measurements, you can’t go wrong! It’s extremely easy!

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!