Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles

Not sure about you, but whenever I bought myself a new toy, I mean new cooking toy,  I would get all excited to try out new recipes with it. And this time I bought myself quite a fun and dainty little popsicle mold from Zoku. :) Needless to say, I chose an easy recipe to test out this new toy. Plus I have fresh strawberries in the fridge, I made Strawberry Yoghurt mini pops!

These popsicles just reminds me of baby pacifiers haha! Frankly speaking they are the right size for my kids. They come back from school in the afternoon and craving for some cold treats. And what's better then homemade fruit popsicles verses sodas and store bought ice cream. :P These popsicles are so easy to make, even my 10 year old is capable of making them herself! 

The only thing that deters me from making popsicles at home last time was unmolding them. Soaking in warm water, leaving it to stand at room temperature which is such a torture when you are so craving for one. Or like me...pull and pull like no tomorrow, oops. :P Sometimes the holding stick just slides out on its own.. -_-" But NOT anymore with Zuko! Yay! These are so easy to remove, just pushing the silicon base and it pops right out~! Ok ok, I bought it from TANGS Orchard basement where all the bakeware is. I believe Vivo branch carries it too. ;) *Excited!*

Ingredients for Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles

90 g fresh strawberries

200g Greek Honey Yogurt

50g Strawberry Jam (I use New Zealand brand Anathoth Farm from Coldstorage)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

• I had the other ice cream old from Daiso to standby incase I have more to freeze. 
• First you wash and slice up ~90g of the berries and place in the blender container. Leave some thin slices of the strawberries for decorations later but it is optional.

• Next add in the strawberry jam. Got this Anathonth Strawberry jam recently and love the intensive flavour and chunky fuit in it.

• Then now add in the greek yogurt and that fresh lemon juice.
• Blend at high speed for a minute.

• Place the thinly sliced starberries in the cavity of the Zuko mold. Then gently pout the puree into it. If you look carefully, you will see where you should fill the puree to. The right level which the stick will be able to grip it.

• Place the sticks over and cover all of the cavity.

• Since these popsicles are smaller, it also means the freezing time is reduced as well. I left it for 2 hours and it was already good to go!

• After two hours, remove from freezer. Then using your thumb, push up the silicon mold to release thepopsicales. 

• See! Just a push and it just pops out. Easy peasy right?

Perfect treat on warm days or any day yeah? 

Hope you guys like this super easy and healthy popsicle recipe. You cab change the fruit to any kind you fancy, like mango or even orange. :9

Have fun always

Creamy Avocado Ice Cream

Let's talk about ice cream today. :)) Who doesn't love ice cream? Sweet and creamy cold desert made from all sorts of wonderful flavors, which comforts and lifts you up on any bad day. I have been wanting to post up an ice cream recipe for a long long time now, but somehow it just always get postponed. Well not today! Today's Avocado ice cream was actually inspired by my recent visit to one of my favorite ice cream parlor, "The Daily Scoop". I got to taste their avocado ice cream that weekend and fell in love with it immediately! It was so creamy and not too sweet with a mild avocado taste. I kept telling my husband that I have to replicate this delicious ice cream at home...although I caught him rolling his eyes. :P Wasting no time, I bought some avocados the next day and got to work. And tah-dah! My very own avocado ice cream...

I got this nice avocado ice cream recipe from FoodNetwork, courtesy of Alton Brown. Although initially I was complementing whether to try out Eelin's Avocado ice pops recipe. But decided to go with Alton Brown's version since I've tasted the sinfully good version from "The Daily Scoop", plus I'm such a sucker for creamy stuff. Lol!

Ingredients for avocado ice cream (makes about 3 cups) 
12 ounces avocado meat, approximately 3 small to medium
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream

• Peel and pit the avocados.
• Add the avocados, lemon juice, milk, and sugar to a blender and puree.
• Transfer the mixture to a medium mixing bowl, add the heavy cream and whisk to combine.
• Place the mixture into the refrigerator and chill until it reaches 40 degrees F or below, approximately 4 to 6 hours.
• Process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.
• Alternatively, if you don't own an ice cream maker, beat the mixture at high speed using your handheld mixer till it thickens. Then place in the freezer for an hour. Just as the mixture is going to freezes up, beat the mixture again, then chill again. Repeat this step about 2-3 times to reach a thick creamy consistency...something like soft-surf ice cream.
• Pour the mixture into a container and freeze overnight or up to 4 hours.

Note that if you don't own an ice cream maker, doing the repetitive beating of the almost frozen cream mixture will help break up those ice crystals as much as possible so your final results will be as smooth and creamy as possible. Sounds like a hassle I know, why not just pay for it and get a tub. But once you get to taste your own home made creation, you will beg to defer. ;))

If you have tasted avocado ice cream before and love it as much as I do...I highly recommend you try this out. There's no raw eggs involved and yet it has this really creamy texture due to the avocado used, really yummy.

And guess what, I have a batch of pulut hitam (black glutinous rice) ice cream mixture chilling in the fridge right now. *excited* Hopefully it will turn out good. Will post it up once I have the time. ;))

Thanks all for dropping by! Have a great day. Cheers!