Mango ice popsicle

Mangoes should be sweet and plentiful, as a famous poet and mango-lover once noted. But adding a little yoghurt to your puréed mango will retain the essential mango-flavour while adding  a pleasant tangy touch. Since ripe mangoes are quite sweet, only a little extra sugar is required. And if you crave more sophistication, a little added cinnamon goes a long way. In short – a perfect ice popsicle base for young and old alike!

The famous Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib was not only famous for his poetry, wild living and liberal religious views. He was also a great lover of mangoes (or what do you say about poetry like this:  “Mango is sweeter than the best in life, nay, even life itself.”). Clearly a discerning man, he had purportedly tried most of the many varieties growing in India. As the stories go, however, it seems clear that he maintained his good sense of what really matters. When asked by friends about his expert views on mangoes, Ghalib is supposed to have responded “In my opinion, there are only two necessary requirements concerning mangoes. Firstly, they should be sweet and secondly, they should be plentiful!”

Mango – sweet and plentiful, just like it should be (at least according to Mirza Ghalib, and he really knew his mangoes …)

Making full-fledged mango ice cream is always a tempting idea, but sometimes there is little time and strong demands for quicker solutions – ice popsicles! And since ice popsicles are so stunningly effortless to make, there is not much more to say than “Do it!” 🙂

And, by the way, “doing it” translates into blending the churned mango pulp with half the amount of yoghurt, some added sugar and a little honey. The proportions are personal, and you could happily shift the balance to suit your own personal preferences (I’m not even wedded to these proportions myself all the time – they tend to shift with about every batch I make).

Want more of a frozen yoghurt? – add more yoghurt!  Don’t like sugar or honey? – test adding your favourite ‘alternative sweetener’ instead or mix in some mashed banana. No wish to use dairy? – stick with the fruit, possibly adding a little water … or a little juice … or some mashed banana, soy milk or … the possibilities are endless: Exactly what I like so much about ice cream 🙂

With a ripe mango and a hand-mixer, the required purée is ready in a matter of seconds

Since ice pops are supposed to freeze firmly, there is no need to worry about scoopability/making the ice cream softer etcetera: a nice change for many makers of home-made ice cream 😉

You might want to add a small amount of sugar to the mango

How long it takes for your ice pops to freeze properly mainly depends on your freezer, and on how cold your ice pop-base was when you filled the moulds. And smaller-sized moulds will freeze faster than larger ones.

If you really are in a hurry and have an ice cream machine, you could always churn your ice pop-base for a while there before filling the moulds, in order to get a flying start to the freezing process. Still, that certainly detracts from the basic idea of ice pops as the effortless alternative to standard ice cream making.

Time to fill the moulds.

Remember to leave some space to allow for some expansion during the freezing.

Mango ice pops, here slightly spiced with delicious cinnamon

If the ice pops have frozen so much that they refuse to leave the mould when it is time to serve them, just warm the sides of the moulds under some running hot water for a few seconds or so.

Mango ice popsicle with yoghurt. A tiny amount of cinnamon crowns the tasting experience.

Mango ice popsicles – fresh, fruity and combined with healthy yoghurt! Added sophistication is easy to achieve by simply adding just a little aromatic cinnamon. Super-simple to prepare, these frozen gems should be able to spread joy amongst young and old alike!