I tried to make fudgsicles. I should say, I’m trying to make fudgsicles. And I’m sorry, but you’re not getting photos till tomorrow. OK, Just one. This is the mess I’m working with now. Semi jelled cream and fudge and freezer that seems like a warming oven today.
I am happy to report that the summer fruit pops are still tasty, though dwindling, which is a good thing because I need to free up the pop mold.
I love fudgsicles. Particularly the ones that get a little freezer burned and the sugar crystallizes. I am happy to know that, unlike oreos, they have cocoa in them. And they bring back childhood – and later, midlife dieting (only 60 calories in one hood version) – memories. A treat to savor.
Riffing off the cat-in-hat pops, I wanted to play with stripes. I’m not in my own kitchen so the tools on hand are not as “lab” like. My first layer of chocolate was too thick, sigh. I didn’t let it harden enough and the cream layer had not set at all, so when I began layering, it started mixing. At best, it may be like a chocolate tie dye. I do know that I want to make something frozen that has “Groove Is In The Heart” in the title, so maybe these get renamed. I was thinking more like chocolate crepe cake, except frozen in popsicle form.
My recipe is based off the Serious Eats DIY Fudgsicles recipe, but this may be one muse situation where the folks at serious eats would rather I not. Here’s what I did:
2 1/4 whole milk + 2 tablespoons
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 tsp vanilla
dash salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 ounces semisweet chocolate
- Bloom the gelatin in 2 tablespoons of milk, add vanilla and separate into two bowls or large measuring cups.
- Heat milk to high simmer, add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve.
- Pour half the milk into one of the bloomed gelatin bowls and mix.
- Whisk cocoa powder and chocolate into the pain with remaining warm milk. Keep heating over low until uniformly mixed and melted. Pour the warm milk into the other bloomed gelatin bowl and mix.
- Layer the chocolate and cream in a popsicle mold, freezing between layers.
So where did I go wrong? A question I ask myself a lot. And my dog. And the ether. Do I ever really get an answer – I dunno, I’m reading a book on Buddhism, sorry for the digression. Anyway, I’d bet that in my haste to not overcook the milk, I didn’t heat it enough for the gelatin to set. And I’m certainly not freezing them long enough.
I’m going to experiment with the remaining liquids – zapping the cream and taking a longer freeze between layers, oh and thinner layers.
I’ll have to show you the results later or tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m going back outside with another fruit pop.