When we were trying to think up something festive for this holiday week, we considered that ice cream seemed the best way to go. July 4th is a barbeque holiday, yes, (though why independence and charred tubes of mystery meat are so closely inter-related I will never understand), but we’ve covered barbeque pretty well up to now, and thought dessert was more appropriate. And it’s summer. So, ICE CREAM!
This was intended, originally, to be an ice cream recipe, but it ended up being more of a frozen pudding somehow. Which, what do you do with frozen pudding? Make popsicles, of course.
This is a plan ahead recipe! There are two pieces that need to sit OVERNIGHT, two separate nights, and then things need to freeze. We just want you to know, because, sometimes, maybe, people don’t read all the directions first. Not that we would ever start a recipe without reading all the directions…
This uses homemade cashew milk (I’m not actually sure there is a commercial version, but if there is, it’s probably expensive), so you will need to soak the cashews overnight. The water will look sort of scummy afterwards. Don’t worry! This is normal, and you’re getting rid of it anyway.
The next overnight is cooling your ice cream/frozen pudding mixture. The last is freezing your pops. So here you go.
Cashew-Chocolate Pudding Popsicles
- 1 1/4 cup cashew pieces, soaked overnight
- 1 1/4 cup water
Blend to death in a blender — seriously, just turn it on and let it go for 5 minutes or so. You will not be straining this, so you want it smooth. This should yield 2 cups or more of cashew milk — you need 2 cups for the recipe. Use the rest for coffee.
- 2 cups cashew milk, 1/4 cup of this set aside
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon arrowroot starch/powder
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 3 oz dark chocolate (check this for allergens)
- 1 oz food-grade cocoa butter
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
Mix the arrowroot and the 1/4 cup cashew milk and set aside.
In a sauce pan over medium-low heat, mix the rest of the cashew milk, sugar, cocoa, dark chocolate, and cocoa butter. Melt the solids, whisk them in, and cook, whisking often, until the mixture reaches a low boil. Do not turn up the heat to achieve the boil. This takes time!
When the mixture is boiling, remove from the heat. Whisk in the arrowroot mixture and the vanilla.
Cool overnight in the fridge.
Now from here you can go one of two ways. We put this through the ice cream maker, following the maker’s instructions, and then decided it was better as pops. It’s likely that you can skip this step, but let’s be honest — some of us are a little superstitious, and since it worked right the first way (going through the ice cream maker), that’s how we did it.
Now for the pops, we used Dixie bathroom paper cups, 3 oz. each, leftover from a party we had last year, and they seemed to be the perfect size for this rich treat — no one really wanted a larger pop, and they do melt reasonably fast. If you have popsicle molds, give them a try, but we recommend the little cups. Perfect portions, and easy removal — just tear the cup off. Fill it to the top and add a popsicle stick (it’s thick enough to stay standing straight).
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