Freezy Fun

This summer's fruits have been an inspiration. Of course, I have gobbled down my share of fresh fruit with no more embellishment than a rinse of fresh water under the tap, but I have also been motivated to make frozen goodies. This seems to be the summer of popsicles.

Here are my latest creations - ice cube mini-popsicles. Made in ice cube trays and pierced with cocktail picks, they are a really pretty shade of strawberry pink, slightly tangy from the Greek yogurt and sour cream but with a hint of sweetness, too. They make a quick and tasty little snack partway through the afternoon or for a light dessert. They are easy to make - minimal fuss - and fun to eat, a little icy and crunchy but melting on your tongue to smoothly creamy. The next hot day we get, I hope you have some of these in your freezer to enjoy.

Strawberry FroYo Popsicles (makes 2-1/2 ice cube trays)

2 cups fresh strawberries
1-1/2 cups Greek yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 cup sugar (or more if your fruit is not very sweet - you need to taste as you go)

In a blender container, combine all the ingredients and whirl at low speed until the mixture is homogeneous. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze for about 30 minutes. (The seeds will have settled to the bottom, so you might want to pour those last few popsicles through a fine sieve to remove the seeds). When mixture is partially frozen and thick, set toothpicks or cocktail picks in at a 45 degree angle, to give you more leverage when removing the popsicles from the ice cube trays. Freeze until hard, several hours or overnight.

When popsicles are firmly frozen, remove them from the trays by very briefly running the bottom of the trays under hot water to loosen the popsicles. Using a levering motion, pull out each popsicle and quickly put them into a plastic freezer bag or freezer container (you can leave them in the trays if you have room in your freezer) and return them to the freezer until ready to serve.

It would be fun to vary the recipe and make several fruit flavors, serving one of each flavor as a special dessert.