Tale of two popsicles

We recently returned from a busy, fun-filled vacation in California!  It was great but this East Coast girl is also happy to plant her two feet back home. We started our trip in San Diego, picked up our rental car and eventually drove our way through to San Francisco - and many places in between.  It was really nice to visit the other side of the country and watch our 8-year old experience it for the first time. Now, after the theme parks (Legoland, Disneyland, Sea World, oh my!), fast food (In-N-Out Burger for one) and ice cream (Ghirardelli ice cream shop - we love you!) consumption, I can tell you that we've been settling back to normal life and eating our weight in vegetables and fruit to balance out all that vacation excess.

The last two of my posts were scheduled before I left and these popsicles were actually the last sweet things I made before our trip.  While I've been cooking up a storm the minute we got home (don't you miss home-cooked meals after traveling?), I'm taking a short hiatus from baking - at least when it comes to dessert - while we work on eating those veggies. In the meantime, I'd love to share this little popsicle "story" with you.  I decided to make them because summer is flying by and before we know it, it'll be too cold to truly enjoy popsicles.  Since I'd only made a batch of fudge pops this season, I wanted to put my popsicle molds to more use before it was too late. So here's what I did...

Vietnamese Coffee Popsicle

First up - something for coffee lovers! I was never much of a coffee drinker at all until I had a child and then, well, everything changed. This is a Vietnamese Coffee Popsicle. It's made with just 2 ingredients: super strong coffee (or espresso) and sweetened condensed milk.

I made it with double-strength coffee (brewed using 4 tablespoons of coffee grinds per cup). I like using a combination of dark French roast and Columbian coffee.  I'm no coffee expert whatsoever but it's a mixture I've tried in the past and liked over using all dark roast.  Since we like Vietnamese coffee ice cream, I figured I'd try the popsicle version. 

It is so easy to make!  Simply stir sweetened condensed milk into the freshly brewed coffee and pour the mixture into your molds.  And the result is just like having a frozen form of the strong, sweet coffee drink!

Red Bean Popsicles

Next up, we have Red Bean Popsicles!  If you're Asian, chances are you're more than familiar with red bean desserts, made with Azuki or Asian red beans. They are typically cooked down into a paste and sweetened, then used in a wide variety of desserts. One of my favorite childhood treats growing up in Hong Kong was red bean pudding cakes, which I tried my hand at making last year!

These red beans are featured in a whole host of Asian desserts.  It's found in simple red bean dessert soups, could be made into gelatin-like cakes, or stuffed into buns and breads.  It might also be used as a filling in cakes, and layered with ice and condensed milk into what we simply call, red bean ice. I absolutely love all these uses for red bean paste.  Name one red bean dessert and you'll likely find me oohing and aahing about how it was my favorite growing up! You see...I do have a passion for something other than chocolate!

And red bean popsicles were indeed one of those beloved treats I had as a child. I've devoured many in my day and it was cool to learn how to make them myself.  You can start with azuki beans and make your own red bean paste (here's a recipe posted by Amy that shows you exactly how it's done) but for speed and convenience, I went with the shortcut and bought cooked, sweetened red bean paste (it comes in cans and is available at most Asian markets).  This recipe will require the blender but there's actually no cooking involved if you go the store-bought red bean route.

Mixed with milk (you could certainly try coconut milk or almond milk) and some cream, it is a luscious, delicious treat that's filled with sweet red bean flavor. I adore it and it was fun making another childhood treat in my own kitchen. (And if you've never had one of these, consider picking up a box from the freezer aisle of the Asian market and give them a try! : )


Recipes: 

Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles
From David Lebovitz

- Makes about 6 popsicles, depending on size of your molds -

2 cups extra-strength coffee* or espresso
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

* I brewed strong coffee, using 4 tablespoons of coffee grinds (a combination of dark French roast and Columbian) per cup.  You can also deepen the coffee flavor by stirring in a bit of espresso powder.  You want very strong coffee to mix with the condensed milk.

In a large measuring cup or bowl, stir the coffee or espresso with the sweetened condensed milk. Taste, adding another tablespoon or two of condensed milk if you think it's necessary.  Do not add too much more than that or the popsicles may not freeze as hard.  

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until solid.


Red Bean Popsicles
From CHOW.com

- Makes about 6 popsicles, depending on size of your molds -

1 1/2 cups canned sweetened, mashed azuki beans*
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
Scant 1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt

*You can find this in most Asian markets.  There are many brands and the one below happens to be the one I used for these popsicles.  I was at H-Mart, a Korean supermarket, recently when I taste-tested it and decided to buy a couple of cans.  That turned out to be the inspiration behind making these popsicles.

In a large bowl, stir 1 cup of the red beans together with the cream.  

Place the remaining 1/2 cup of beans, milk, sugar, and salt into a blender. Process until incorporated and smooth.  Pour mixture into the beans and cream, stirring to combine.  The beans will settle to the bottom of the bowl.

Fill popsicle molds about half to two-thirds of the way with the liquid part of the mixture.  Then, evenly divide the beans settled at the bottom of the bowl among the molds.  This will create a more even distribution of the red beans throughout the popsicles.

Freeze until solid.