Nothing says Summer like Strawberry Creamsicles

Creamsicles and popsicles bring back wonderful memories of childhood summers.We were never allowed to eat the popsicles sold by vendors with their pushcarts because our folks were worried if they were hygienic. So mum came up with the idea of making it at home. Those days we just set them in ice trays or in cups with some small bamboo sticks in them to use as popsicle sticks. It was absolute joy to sit and lick them for hours. Of course, it was hell for our mum what with all the popsicle dripping all over our clothes. But even with all that, it didn't stop us from raiding the fridge for the frozen treats.

Now you get all these fancy popsicle moulds like Zuko and whatnot, which just makes your life so much easier. I didn't have any of those and everyone knows all about my laziness when it comes to washing up, so I used plastic cups and stuck spoons in them since I didn't have anything to act as popsicle sticks. They were so easy to remove too...all I had to do was warm them a little by rolling them slightly between my palms, gave the spoon a twirl and out they popped! Here's how they looked...

I didn't bother making it fancy, mainly because I was in a hurry to finish it. I just poured the puréed strawberries in first and then added the cream mixture on top. So it froze with nice abstract swirly patterns. If you want a fancier looking one, you'll have to make the fruit purée first and let it set in the freezer before pouring the cream mixture on top, or you can have several layers too (This requires a lot of time and patience, both of which I am almost always short of!). So here's the recipe for you. It's so easy you can probably do it in your sleep.

Strawberry Creamsicle

Makes 6-8 servings

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup fresh strawberries

1/4 cup caster sugar

juice and zest of half a Lime

For the cream mixture:

1/2 cup Light cream (I used Amul cream, and using light cream gives you a lighter creamsicle with lesser calories)

1/4 cup caster sugar 

1 vanilla bean, split and the seeds scraped out. (if you don't have any at hand use 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract)

For Garnish:

Extra strawberries 

Here's how you do it:

1. Strawberry Purée: Put the strawberries, caster sugar, lime zest and juice in the blender jar and blend till puréed. Pour the mixture into popsicle moulds or lightly oiled plastic cups, stick a spoon in to the cups and freeze until set. It takes at-least 2-3 hours.
2. Creamsicles: Pour the light cream, caster sugar and vanilla seeds into the blender jar and blend for about a minute or two until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the cream mixture over the already set strawberry purée. Add the extra strawberries into the cream mixture in the cups (This gives you something to bite), and freeze for 2-3 hours until set.
3. To unmould: Slightly warm the cups by rolling them between your palms, twirl the spoon slightly to loosen and give a slight tug to unmould your creamsicle. I f you are using popsicle moulds, dip them in hot water for a few seconds to unmould. Enjoy your creamsicle.

Note: You can use any fruit of your choice and adjust the sugar content to your taste.

Until next time,
Happy Baking!!! :)