These are easy peasy, and are a great antidote to the searing temperatures we're all currently experiencing. You can also adapt them so they are dairy free and sugar free and the coconut cream version also means a vegan variation is at your fingertips.
I have the silicone iceblock molds from Ye Olde Shoppe and find they're the perfect size for an afternoon snack without making you feel bloated or overfilling the kids tummies before dinner. Any iceblock molds would be fine though.
You need:
1 tin evaporated milk or coconut cream
3 dessertspoons cornflour or custard powder
2-4 dessertspoons sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or extract (coconut or lemon essence is lovely too, as is rosewater or orange blossom extract)
Food colouring if desired, about 3 drops/p>
1 1/2 cups of any sort of fruit, cooked and pureed if necessary as would be the case for apples, pears, or stone fruit, soft fruit like mango or banana can simply be mashed, passionfruit pulp or blueberries could go in as is, or you could use ready made puree`, like pie filling (1 tin)
Ice block molds (this makes about 6-12 depending upon the type you have)
Then you need to:
Heat the evaporated milk, sugar and flavoured essence, in a microwave safe jug until steaming, about 60 seconds. Mix the cornflour or custard powder with a little cold water and whisk it in to the steaming milk. Microwave the mixture on HIGH in 20 second bursts, stirring between blasts until thick and creamy. Add a drop or two of food colouring now if you wish.
Fold the fruit through the thick custard. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
Spoon or pipe the mixture in to your iceblock molds. Freeze for several hours and enjoy!
We recently made a very naughty version by mixing the custard base with a cup of cake batter. We sprinkled some Silver Cachous (metallic coloured cake decorating pearls) into the bottom of the molds before adding the custard/cake batter mixture to them. They were very pretty and delicious to boot.
Yummy!
