Coconut & Cardamom Ice Lollies with Raspberries & Pistachios

Picture the scene: the day has been long and warm – maybe a little too warm, depending on what you’ve been doing – and you’re in the UK, so it’s also a little humid. You’ve tidied up, prepared, cooked and eaten a delicious meal (something inspired by a previous Sticky Fig post, no doubt); you’re feeling quite full but manage to stack the dishwasher and now you’re vegging out in front of the tv or otherwise enjoying the last vestiges of the day. The air feels a bit muggy and you want something to cool you down…no, not a glass of water (tsk) – you want something tasty and quick-smart! Your tastebuds are in the mood for a little sweetness with maybe a creamy edge; slightly indulgent but not overloaded with sugar and fat. Hmmmm what do you reach for?
Suddenly you remember, with glee, that you knocked up a cheeky batch of Coconut & Cardamom Ice Lollies with Raspberries & Pistachios a couple of days ago. They’re sitting in suspended animation, patiently awaiting your hungry attentions. You skip to the freezer with renewed energy, remove the lollies and after a brief run under a warm tap, carefully ease them from their mould. You admire your perfectly portable pudding on a stick. All is well with the world.

Cooks note: I used dark chocolate in this batch but, on reflection, I think it was an ingredient too far. I do this quite a lot. Chocolate melts at body temperature, so I have never been a particular fan of eating chunks of chocolate in ice cream, or any other frozen dessert, because it doesn’t melt so readily in your mouth. For this reason I’m not sure what inspired me to add it here (other than I had half a bar of Lindt that needed finishing up…not a good enough reason as it turned out).

Ingredients:

These quantities fill a standard four lolly mould

• 350ml good quality coconut milk (75% coconut extract, or thereabouts)
• 1 level tbsp of runny honey
• 2 tbsps caster sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
• 3 large cardamom pods, crushed
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• small handful of chopped pistachios
• 2 heaped tbsps freeze-dried raspberries (you could substitute with frozen raspberries, which would help to cool the mixture more quickly)

Method:

Place the coconut milk and crushed cardamom pods in a small saucepan, along with the honey and sugar and bring to the boil. When it just starts to bubble, remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla paste then cover with cling film. Leave the mixture to one side for the cardamom flavour to infuse the coconut milk. When it’s cooled transfer to the ‘fridge to chill.
Place the lolly mould in the freezer for a while before assembling the lollies.
When you are ready to assemble the lollies, remove the cardamom infused coconut milk from the ‘fridge and strain out the cardamom pods and seeds using a fine sieve.

Stir in the remaining ingredients then simply pour the mixture into the chilled moulds leaving approx. ½ cm gap at the top to allow for expansion. Cover and place in the coldest part of your freezer on a flat surface.

They’ll be ready in a few hours, but best make them the day before…just in case!

• ← Sticky Fig Barbecue Ribs with Jewelled Couscous
• Hazelnut Frangipane Tarts with Chocolate & Orange Marmalade →