Besides the over the top layered fruit cake, I also brought some banana icecream popsicles for my daughters last day of kindergarten.
I came up with the idea late at night while tucking her in, the day before serving them. (On that note, can I just send a big THANK YOU to our bright Scandinavian summer nights that actually allows you can take descent pictures in natural lighting at 10pm! I love you <3 ) My daughter asked for chocolate flavor, but being out of cocoa powder and with the stores being closed, I opted for pink, coloring the banana ice cream with the help of a wrinkled beetroot rescued from the bottom of the fridge.
The kids in kindergarten know me as ‘the lady who makes banana icecream’. And since we’re moving far away of course I wanted to make them extra special this last time aroundor a couple of years I have bought the edible flower wild pansy, with the primary objective to use them somehow in cooking, (or freezing as is the case with banana ice cream). Using edible flowers is one of those tricks that are incredibly simple, but offers a high wau-factor. And this was the perfect opertunity to use them up.
Remember to put the flowers ‘upside down’ in the moulds. Make sure the leaves aren’t curled up and maybe press them gently against the bottom of the mould to ensure they are lying as flat as possible. If you want the flowers to be visible on the surface of the ice creams, the easiest way is to use ice moulds where the popsicles are ‘lying down’. I use these everlasting, easy to clean ice cream moulds from Silikomart.
Youcan use almost anykinds ofveganice creamas a base. But if you use‘lying down’ popsicle moulds like me, you can’tmake it from juice, lemonadeand the like,simply becauseit will flow out the stick hole. In order for the flowers not to skate around too much while filling the moulds, start by putting/pouring a dollop ofice creamon top ofthe flower and maybe drop the popsicle mould on the counter to ensure the flower is thuroughly surrounded by icecream. Fill upthe restof the moulds.
The morning after I got hold of cocoa powder and gave the popsicles their the last finnish by dipping them in chocolate sauce sweetened with agave syrup. It ended up looking really pro, if I do say so myself 🙂
The chocolate solidifiesrather quicklybecause of the cold andthen you canpackthe ice creaminto thelunch bagpaper. Ice crystals will gather rather quickly on the popsicles when removed from the freezer, so make sure they are out as little as possible. The ice crystalscan easily be removedbysimply licking all the popsicles just before serving them but note, that doing so can cause an incrediblyawkwardatmosphere when in the company of others.
I am lucky to own an icecream maker I once bought second hand from friends. But if you have a food processor or slowjuicer, so you can also use them to make the banana ice cream. You’ll get more crystals forming in the icecream, but my experience is that kids really don’t care. You can actually get away with using a blender and very shortly (!) blend refrigerated cold bananas, preferably without liquid, but expect some crystal formation. I have made countless banana icecream in different ways and served them to countless children and have never received complaints about consistency. So have your audience in mind when you will decide for the manufacturing method – adults are more critical than children in this regard.
Note that the food processor and ice maker kneads a lot of air into the ice cream. It expands a lot and you get more ice out of the recipe that way. Therefore, you should increase the amount of bananas if using a blender and non-frozen bananas.
And now for todays lesson in Danish.
This is how we say “bananas that you freeze and use for ice cream should
have as many spots as these, preferable more
(since the sweetnessed is numbed by the cold)”- Now say it out loud:
1poundRIPE bananas(frozen or refrigerated depending on your method)
1smallbeetroot (the equivalent of a handful shredded or 1-2 tsp beetroot juice)
12wild pansy flower heads(w/o pesticides
)
Chocolate coating
2 tbspcoconut oil(or cocoa butter)
2tbspcocoa butter
2tspagave syrup
SÅDAN GØR DU
Making the ice cream
Shred and press the beetroot, to get some juice. You only need 1-2 tsp.
Make sure there's room in the freezer for the molds so you can put them in as fast as possible.
Remove the flower heads and place them upside down in the bottom of the mold. Place them a little below the center in order to make room for moore chocolate coating.
Start by pouring the icecream on top of the flower to hold it in place. Fill the rest of the mold. Drop the mold on the counter from about 5" height to get rid of bubbles of air.
Remember to put in the sticks! (Speaking from experience, here…)
Place them in the freezer.
After about 6 hours the popsicles should be ready to handle. But if you have the time, leave them over night. Melt the coconut oil gently untill just liquid mix with agave. Sift your cocoa into a little bowl and stir the oil/agave mix in a little at a time until it’s all integrated. Pour it into a narrow, tiny bowl, that will you to dip the popsicles in it.
Get your zip lock bag or parchment paper ready for wrapping the posicles once dipped.
Take out one mould at a time from the freezer. Run some luke warm water on the back of the mould for 30 seconds and gently loosen the popsicles.
Dip each popsicle, twice if you like. Let the chocolate harden while you hold it and then quickly wrap it.
Put them in the freezer and continue with the rest of the popsicles.
Kids are impressed by getting the chance to actually eat a flower, so prepare to get extra popular when making these wild pansy popsicles 🙂
(This blog post contains affiliate links, I earn a small commission for your purchase, but it’s not costing you a dime extra. Thanks for your support and please shop responsibly 😉 )
Skriv et svar