Homemade Peppermint Ice Cream Pops?
October 1, 2013 11:39 AM   Subscribe

This has been the Year Of Learning How To Make Ice Cream And Ice Pops. With certain holidays looming on the horizon, I have been searching to no avail, for a recipe for peppermint ice cream pops. I made a successful peppermint ice cream with crushed candy canes...but not sure if shoehorning the product of an ice cream maker into pop molds would really work properly. Do any MeFi Ice Cream Mavens have tips for me?
posted by dorgla to Food & Drink (6 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Fill your molds with your ice cream and freeze hard. It works just fine.
posted by txmon at 11:44 AM on October 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


Popsicles are "quiescently frozen" which means they are not stirred while they freeze. Works fine for sugary-watery-pops, not so much for ice cream. Try putting the ice cream in the mold when it is quite soft. You may get ice crystals, but it should have a more solid form. If you have trouble getting it to release from the mold, coat the freezing mold with a bit of popscile-y mixture, let it freeze, then add ice cream, or spray with cooking spray, coat with chocolate, freeze, then fill with ice cream.

Once you perfect your ice pop, ice cream, etc, methods, please move to Maine and be my best friend.
posted by Mom at 11:44 AM on October 1, 2013 [5 favorites]


I haven't tried this with ice cream, though I might, now that you've brought the possibility to mind, but I have a suggestion that greatly improves the freezability and what I've always thought of as the texture of homemade frozen pops. I add a small amount of dissolved unflavored gelatin to a quantity of juice, say one envelope dissolved in a cup of water to 6 to 8 cups of juice - I'm not scientific about it, so I can't give exact proportions. It helps the pops freeze with a softer texture, so they're less like huge hard ice cubes. They are closer in texture to commercial popsicles.

The logistics of adding liquid gelatin to cold softened commercial ice cream might be messy, but it should be very possible to add it to homemade ingredients during creation. In fact, I may just dig out my ice cream maker with the last of the summer peaches!
posted by citygirl at 11:59 AM on October 1, 2013


I think Mom's tactic is good. Let the mixture churn for a while, then let it soften, then smoosh it into the mold. And then I would recommend you dip it in white chocolate and then again in dark chocolate and great right now all I can think of is how amazing peppermint bark ice cream bars would be.

You could also take a different tack and approach it like iced latte pops, except without the coffee. Maybe it could be half sweet cream and half swirly peppermint color/flavor. I don't know.
posted by phunniemee at 12:02 PM on October 1, 2013 [2 favorites]


I would guess that if you get the ice cream while in your machine to the soft serve stage (as you do before you pack it into a container for the freezer), and then pack it in pop molds, you'd do okay. I am thinking that maybe the final freeze in a mold will mean some larger ice crystals, so you won't have as smooth of a texture as non-molded ice cream -?

To unmold, you might need to dip the forms in warm water or let sit out for a few minutes.
posted by Ink-stained wretch at 12:14 PM on October 1, 2013


I'd follow Ink-stained wretch's advice. Else, you'll get something more akin to frozen milk than ice cream.

Another option would be to reformulate your recipe to use yogurt instead of cream/milk. Froyo pops don't have that ice crystal problem.

You could also experiment with the Zoku Slow Pops molds. The molds are insulated, so they freeze slower and with smaller ice crystals. I've had my eye on them for a while, but never used them.
posted by fontophilic at 4:19 PM on October 1, 2013


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