Sparkle Kitchen: Cherry Icicles
In this week’s Junkyard Tales, "The Cool House", the animals are worried about Mr. Flinch, the old possum. It’s really hot out, so they devise a plan to create a cool house for him under the Junkyard Warden’s air conditioned office.
Another way to keep cool in the intense heat of summer is to eat cold foods, like popsicles.
Some of you will probably remember ice pops from childhood — you know, the kind that came in the little plastic tubes. My brother and I used to get so excited when we saw that my mom had brought home a box of those from the store. They’re still great for a treat, but, as a grown-up now, I prefer something a little healthier for our family’s day-in, day-out popsicle needs.
Enter the fresh fruit “icicle”.
We’re having a bumper year for cherries, so that’s what I’ve used in the recipe below. However, the method is about the same for most berries and stone fruits. All you have to do is puree the soft fruit flesh with a little water, freeze in a mold, and — voila! — you have a fresh fruit icicle. Not only are they tasty and cool, they’re also a nice use for fruit that’s close to going bad.
As far as popsicle molds go, you can find just about every shape and size you can imagine online. We sometimes use a set of plastic rocket ship molds that I picked up at a sale years ago, but I find that the resulting popsicles can be too big for my 3-year-old. This year, I’m testing out the “Zipzicle” pouches pictured below, instead. They make smaller, neater portions, but I’d like it better if they were reusable.
Of course, the dirt-cheap-and-easy method of making popsicles is to use ice cube trays or shot glasses as molds. If you make your popsicles this way, insert a stick into the center after the popsicles have been in the freezer for about a half an hour, and swish the mold in warm water just before serving to get it to release the popsicle.
Now gather up some fresh fruit and prepare to be cooled off!
Cherry Icicles
(Makes about 5 small popsicles)
Ingredients
4 cups sweet cherries, pitted and with stems removed
1 cup water
sweetener (optional)
Directions
Add the pitted, stemmed cherries to the bowl of a food processor. Puree on low, slowly adding water until you’ve made a thin cherry slurry. If you want, you can also add a little sweetener — like sugar, honey, or agave — but really good fruit rarely needs it.
Funnel or pour the mixture into popsicle bags or molds and freeze for several hours before enjoying.
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About the Author
Meryl Carver-Allmond
The Sparkle Kitchen Series is created by Meryl Carver-Allmond.
Meryl lives in a hundred-year-old house near the prairie with her sweet husband, two preschoolers, one puppy, one gecko, and about ten chickens. While she's been writing since she could pick up a pen, in recent years she's discovered the joy of photography, too. She feels lucky to be able to combine those skills, along with a third passion — showing people that cooking for themselves can be healthy and fun — in her Sparkle Kitchen posts.
