Savoring the last days of Summer with berry popsicles in the country

We have been enjoying an extended stay in the country.  A special time spent mainly cooking at home, exploring outdoors, and dunking in the pool.  We have been in the rhythm of checking the garden each morning and harvesting what's there, with a promise to use at least one garden item in each meal.  We went through waves of vegetables so fresh we never tired of them: snap peas, green beans, cucumbers, eggplant and tomatoes to name a few.  The perimeter of of the garden has berry bushes planted last year that provide berries all summer long.  First with black raspberries, then blueberries, then red and yellow raspberries - the latter being the sweetest of the lot.

We get a generous handful of new berries each day, and it seems impossible to think of wasting a single one.  My little one who loved blueberries as a baby, has now decided he's no longer interested in berries, with the exception of strawberries, which are a bit on again off again.  I figured a popsicle might change his perspective?  I started with mixed berry popsicles of local strawberries plus our blueberries and raspberries.  They were so fresh and divine, but apparently not acceptable to him.  He requested purple popsicles.  I moved on to blackberry lime popsicles, a deep purple in color, that we made together (he operated the blender proudly), and apparently hit the spot after some coaxing.  Later this week, having discovered a recipe for fudgesicles in this month's edition of Everyday Food, we made the creamy classic together.  There was no encouragement needed to devour those.

Homemade berry popsicles (will yield ~10 popsicles depending on size of moulds)

Mixed berry popsicles

5 cups mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or whatever you prefer)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (adjust to taste or sweetness of berries)
Juice of one lemon

Blackberry lime popsicles

5 cups blackberries
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (adjust to taste or sweetness of berries)
Juice of one lime

Combine ingredients in blender until berries are processed into fine pieces.  Taste and adjust sweetness and acidity to taste (note that mixture will taste less sweet when frozen).  Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove seeds and any remaining pieces of skin.  Pour into moulds and freeze for at least six hours.  To unmould, run moulds briefly under hot water until popsicles release.

Absolutely out of season: Vietnamese iced coffee pops

Here’s a break from hearty winter fare, if only for a post. I have an absolutely out-of-season recipe to share (well, that is if you are in the Northern hemisphere): Vietnamese iced coffee popsicles.

Have you had Vietnamese iced coffee? I love the strong but sweet flavor and the thickness of it. It’s dessert in a drink – and even more dessert-like in a pop.

I love the way the different layers of color look as the coffee blends with sweetened condensed milk. I worked to replicate this in the pop and am happy with the way it turned out (it took a bunch of attempts, believe it or not!). The pops pack a refreshing punch after dinner, or would be perfect served as a pick-me-up at the pool. Try them and see!

Vietnamese iced coffee pops
(makes six rocket-pop sized popsicles. Easily adjusts as necessary)

3-4+ tablespoons dark roast coffee, medium ground (see link below for additional information)
2 cups boiling water
Vietnamese coffee filter (can be easily and inexpensively found on-line at stores such as this one)
One can sweetened condensed milk (typically comes in a 14 oz can)
½ cup whole milk

Place ~3 tablespoons coffee in between filter layers. Screw top down until firmly in place. Set over a heat-proof glass. Pour boiling water into filter in batches so that you end up with approximately 2 cups coffee. If coffee weakens significantly as you go along, remove grinds and replace with fresh ones.

Add sweetened condensed milk to coffee by the teaspoonful until coffee lightens a bit and is sweet enough to your taste (take care to add enough condensed milk so that the end result is more creamy than icy). This will be the first layer. You will add more condensed milk to create a sweeter and lighter layer next.

Pour enough coffee into each pop to fill the pop ~1/3 full. Place popsicle sticks in pops and freeze for a couple of hours until firm.

Meanwhile, cover and refrigerated remaining coffee and condensed milk.

Add a few more teaspoonfuls of condensed milk to coffee until coffee reaches a noticeably lighter shade.

Fill pops to ¾ or a little less full, as desired. Freeze again until solid.

Mix several tablespoons condensed milk into whole milk until milk is thick and sweet. Top popsicles off with the mixture, leaving an inch or so of popsicle stick sticking out from the top, and freeze one last time.

Unmold pops by running under warm water for a minute or two. Enjoy before they melt!