Sunday, August 17, 2014

Homemade Popsicles

Today Anna and Andrew paid us a visit. Actually, I think they came to see Archie and Lucy.

I make a Stromboli filled with zucchini, onion, Prosciutto and Hot Capicola as an appetizer. Nice flavors. The Spicy Capicola was a nice addition. We had something super easy for lunch. Hot Dogs. It was something I knew they would both like. Andrew even had 2! I made the Friselle con pomodoro as a side dish. Yeah, I do love that recipe.

For dessert I tried something different.

Homemade Popsicles with Fruit, Cream Cheese, Greek Yogurt which I had pinned from The Italian Dish blog. These were simple to make. They were very good, but I did pick up a couple of cupcakes from Meriano's Bakery for the kids just in case. I think they were happy with the option.

Homemade Popsicles with Fruit, Cream Cheese, Greek Yogurt recipe from The Italian Dish blog.

I made 8 popsicles, I happened to have just enough fruit in the house for  the 8. This recipe makes 24.

You will need 24 3-ounce Dixie cups and 24 popsicle sticks

For the fruit purees:

16 ounces fresh strawberries, leafy tops removed
8 tablespoons confectioners sugar, divided
20 ounces fresh blueberries

For the cream cheese/yogurt layer:

12 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Place strawberries and 4 tablespoons sugar in a food processor and process until pureed.  Scrape out the puree and pour into a bowl - don't bother to clean the processor.  Place the blueberries and 4 tablespoons sugar in the processor and puree.  Empty into another bowl.

Place the softened cream cheese, 2/3 cup sugar and yogurt into a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Blend well.

Make the popsicles:  Place the Dixie cups on a sheet that will fit into your freezer. Pour a scant tablespoon of the blueberry puree into each of the cups.  For the second layer, place a level tablespoon of yogurt filling into the cups.  I like to do this with two spoons - it makes it easier, scraping the filling off from one spoon into the cup. With the back of a spoon, smooth down the yogurt layer so it's level.  For the third layer, place a level tablespoon of strawberry puree on top of the yogurt filling.  For the final layer, place a rounded teaspoon of blueberry puree on top.  Place a popsicle stick in each cup and place in the freezer at least 3 hours or until firm.

To serve, remove from freezer and let sit about 10 minutes. You can gently squeeze out the popsicles or just tear off the paper with care.

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