Blueberry Citrusade Popsicles

I first heard of the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop from my Eat.Drink.Blog buddies Anna (Adobo Down Under) and J (84th and 3rd), but never really got around to doing any of the challenges.  But when I made this recipe during Melbourne’s first heatwave of 2014, the Doctor mentioned that it would make a great icy pole and a memory stirred…

Ingredients

1/6 cup fresh citrus juice (I used frozen lemon juice, but pictured kalamansi limes above)
1 cup water
1 cups frozen (or  fresh) blueberries
1/4 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar, you could increase to 1/3 cup if you prefer things sweeter)

Optional
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (if using plain sugar)
Couple of mint leaves, finely shredded

Even though this is all going in the blender, make sure you shred the mint so it gets processed finely enough.  Apparently not many people like chewing chunks of mint leaves (lame).

Equipment

Popsicle moulds (any “discount variety shop” should have them)
Blender

Optional Macguyver-style
Disposable cups (as many as needed)
Icy pole sticks (food safe)
Rubber bands (4 for each cup)

Process

Pop everything into the blender.

Since most of my ingredients were already frozen, I used “ice crush” to ensure my mixture was as smooth as possible.  If you don’t have program settings on your blender, let it run for 10-15 seconds, then pulse to get it smooth.

You could just drink it now or…

Pour into your mould, leaving a tiny bit of space to allow for ice expansion.
Note – I left way too much space.  You’ll see what happens when you do that later.

Attach the holders.

Find some space in the freezer (the most difficult step…!) and freeze until solid.  This will probably take about 2-4 hours. Ish.

To un-mould, twist the popsicle first, then gently ease it out of the mould.  Since I allowed too much room for expansion, I got this gap between the bottom of the popsicle and the holder.

In fact, only one popsicle out of 8 came out.  The other 7 holders just slipped out and left the frozen goodness behind!  Don’t let this happen to you.

But you know, if it does, it helps to have a little extra mix on hand to top the moulds up and freeze them again…

Bonus Macguyer Round

My friend Chi had trouble making sure her sticks stayed centered.  Since I had some left over mix, I experimented with some rubber bands to find a solution.

They actually came out great, but I just didn’t like the shape.  Luckily, since my proper moulds weren’t filled enough, I melted this one down and used it to top up the first batch.  But it’s worth playing around with!

The January Popsicle Party theme hop is open for linkup until 11:59 pm, Friday 24 January [AEST Sydney time].

1. Add a link to this post somewhere in your post – You won’t be able to link up in the hop without a ‘backlink’ to this hostess post included in your post.
2. Click here for the Thumbnail List code – Copy the code and add it to the bottom of your post in HTML view.
3. Click here to Enter the Hop – Make sure to do this step so you appear in the list too! Add the link to your SABH post (NOT your homepage). Your entry will be submitted when you click ‘crop’ on your photo.

If you have a question or aren’t sure of something don’t hesitate to ask. For more information detailed instructions can be found here.

Remember, SABH is open to all food bloggers but only new posts published after the hop goes live can be linked up.

Sweet Adventures Blog Hop is brought to you by 84th & 3rd and monthly Guest Hostesses. Follow on Twitter: @SweetAdvBlogHop and Facebook: /SweetAdventuresBlogHop for new hop announcements and general deliciousness. Thanks for joining SABH!

Here’s the printable!