429. orange creamsicle pops

brings out the kid in you

    How many of us really dare to act like kids when our hearts feel like it? Not many of us, we tend to hold our feelings and are scared to act completely carefree for a moment. Playing in the rain, digging up sand and making sandcastles, letting an ice cream dribble all over your hands, jumping on the bed, making huge bubbles with a chewing gum and getting it stuck on the face in the process, dunking pizza in coke. There are so many things we feel like doing but we just hold back. 
  I made orange creamsicle pops a few days ago. Today I had one and licked and sucked on it like kids do, making a bit of a mess. Hubby dear thought I had gone a bit mad. Did I enjoy doing that? Yes and no! Enjoyed the lolly, wasn't particularly too thrilled with the sticky hands. 
  Oranges are available in abundance these days. They come from Tanzania and are very sweet. Some say the market is flooded with them as hotels are not able to buy them as there are not that many tourists. Most hotels here serve freshly squeezed juice for breakfast, but insecurity means tourists are not willing to come to Kenya. So everyday its orange juice for us, oranges in baking, oranges in desserts, oranges, oranges everywhere! Orange creamsicle pops are made using fresh orange juice and fresh cream or yogurt or vanilla ice cream. I decided to use vanilla ice cream. What I like about these pops is that each pop is only 100 calories and very easy to make. My best friend is spring cleaning her house over this school holiday. When I say spring cleaning it means she is going through every paper and pin, and deciding whether the family needs that thing or not. Her spring cleaning has been advantageous for me. I got boxful of books to donate away through our Club, Lions Club of Mombasa Bahari and I got a set of pop/lolly moulds. I have one already but the disadvantage with that one is that they cannot be separated. The moulds are stuck to the holder. I also constantly need to hunt for the wooden lolly sticks whenever I travel abroad as they are not sold in the shops here. The set that my friend has given me is really good... don't need wooden sticks and moulds can be taken out individually from the holder. 

ORANGE CREAMSICLE POPS
Makes 8 -10 depending on the size of the moulds

2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice with the pip
2 cups slightly soft vanilla ice cream
1 tsp orange zest (grated orange peel)

1. Put the orange juice and ice cream in a blender.
2. Blend it for a few seconds.
3. Add the zest and mix well.
4. Pour the mixture into pop or lolly moulds.
5. Put it in the freezer and let it set. Will take about 2 hours or so.
6. To un-mould the pop, run the mould under warm water for a few seconds.
7. Remove the creamsicle from the mould and serve.

Tips:

• Use greek yogurt, coconut cream or fresh cream instead of ice cream. Add sugar or honey according to your taste.
• To make a healthier option reduce the amount of ice cream or cream used. 
• Add chocolate chips to the mixture to make it more exciting for kids.

You may want to check out the following:

mango sorbet

beetroot ice cream

pineapple paleta