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!!! :)

An icy cool welcome to Summer with Strawberry Sorbet

It's already March and Summer is here, bringing with it the sunny, sunny days. Bye, Bye winter with your bone chilling cold and dreary days. All through winter I am wrapped up in sweaters and thick socks all day long. Although it doesn't snow here, it's still pretty cold. But all that is gone now...my sweaters and socks are all bundled up in some corner until the next time I need them in June when the rains start and my summer clothes are all out from the corner I had thrown them in. And the best part our Strawberry patch is full of fruit. YUM!

One of our larger strawberry patches

strawberry hidden among the leaves

strawberry in the patch

These strawberries are not like the packed ones that are sold commercially. I guess these are the wild variety. As you can see in the picture below they vary in size and are a bright orangish red color, rather than the dark red colored ones you get in the packs. And the taste is also very different, these strawberries have a very nice balance of sweet and tart flavors, whereas the ones you buy are sometimes sickly sweet.

The strawberries I picked this morning

These strawberries can be used the same way as the ones you buy. But you might want to do a taste test to adjust the amount of sugar. I prefer it to be slightly tart so I leave them as they are. Last year, we had a good strawberry crop. Mum and I made 2 bottles of strawberry sauce. Each day we got a large bowlful, and we had to make the sauce daily. Finally when we didn't have any spare bottles left, so I made milkshakes twice a day (I think I can blame strawberries for  adding to my weight) and we still had some left over. So the left over ones, we let it become squishy and soft ( just leave them for about a day or two to get to this stage) and we just put the pulp on our faces and hands (easy homemade fruit facial without any chemicals :))

This time, we've made another bottle of strawberry sauce. And while I hunt around for more fancy glass jars, I decided to do something else out of all those strawberries. And before the summer days get too hot and we start wilting in the sweltering heat, I decided to celebrate summer with a very nice strawberry sorbet. Sorbet is the perfect dessert for summer, it provides the icy cool we all search for in the heat of summer. And because it has no cream or eggs, it makes for a very light, refreshing dessert. So here's to the advent of summer with a bowl of strawberry sorbet.

My half finished bowl of glistening red strawberry sorbet

Strawberry Sorbet Recipe

Adapted from the recipe by Stephanie Jowarski

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/3 cup (80 ml) water

1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar

2 1/2 cups (454 grams) fresh or frozen unsweetened strawberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

Directions

Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan, over low heat, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved (about 3-5 minutes). Boil the mixture for one minute then remove from heat. Pour the sugar syrup into a heatproof container, and place in the refrigerator until completely chilled (about an hour or so). 

cooled sugar syrup

Meanwhile, thaw the frozen strawberries and then place the thawed strawberries in a food processor and process until the strawberries are pureed. 

pureed strawberries in the food processor

Transfer to a large bowl, add the lemon juice and zest, and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled. (If using fresh strawberries, puree the berries in the food processor, transfer to a large bowl, add the lemon juice and zest, and place in the refrigerator until chilled.)

Pureed strawberries with lemon zest and juice

Once the simple syrup and pureed strawberries are completely chilled, combine the simple syrup with the pureed strawberries. Transfer the mixture to the chilled container of your ice cream machine and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once made, transfer the sorbet to a chilled container and store in the freezer.

Frozen sorbet

The jewel red strawberry sorbet

Note: If you do not have an ice cream machine, then pour the mixture into a 8 inch (20 cm) or 9 inch (23 cm) stainless steel pan (sorbets will freeze faster in stainless steel), cover with plastic wrap, and place in the freezer. When the sorbet is completely frozen (3 to 4 hours), remove from freezer and let stand at room temperature until partially thawed. Transfer the partially thawed sorbet to the food processor, and process to break up the large ice crystals that have formed on the sorbet. (This step is what gives the sorbet its wonderful fluffy texture.) Place the sorbet back into the pan and refreeze for at least three hours, and up to several days.

Have a wonderful joy filled summer :)

Until next time, Happy Baking!