ice blocks three ways

Icy poles, Popsicles, ice lollies, iceblocks…call them what you like. But as the thermometer rises through the 30’s and tips over into 40plusridiculousdegresscelcius, something cooling and delicious is much appreciated.

The top three icy treats in my freezer this summer have been:

1. The coolest kid on the block 

Uber-healthy and refreshingly savoury.

3 apples (or 2 cups pure apple juice)

1 large Lebanese cucumber

1 lemon, skin and pith removed (or the juice of 1 lemon)

Handful of fresh mint

Depending on your equipment, there are two easy ways to make these ice blocks. Either put all ingredients through a juicer, or substitute fresh apples for apple juice and combine the ingredients in a food processor or blender. The blended ones have more texture than the pure juice.

Juice or whiz ingredients together, pour into moulds and freeze.

2. Minty-mango

Heaven on a stick.

1 mango, flesh

1 orange, juice

1 lime, juice

Handful of fresh mint, chopped

Mash the mango and combine with the citrus juice and mint.

Pour into moulds and freeze.

1. Queensland special

Where both pineapple and sugar are a natural part of life.

Half a large pineapple, juiced

Equal quantity of simple sugar syrup (1 part sugar: 1 part water)

Juice of 1 lemon or lime.

Combine, mould, freeze.

The mango is my favourite and I can’t get enough of them on these warm evenings. If food-related guilt is your thing, these ice blocks have none of it.

Surprisingly the Significant Eater, Mr Health Himself and Born Again Vegan, disliked the healthiest ones and named the Queensland special his favourite.

But I’m sticking to the pure fruit variety, for as long as the cheap mangoes last.   

ice-cream that even a fruitarian could eat

Is it really 2 months since I bought Jill Dupleix’s ”Lighten Up”? Barely a day has gone by without thinking about her “Mock Choc ice-cream" and with a few ripe bananas patiently waiting in the freezer I don’t know what I was waiting for. The recipe I refer to is a creamy, sugar-free, frozen concoction made from bananas, cocoa powder and dark chocolate. Instead I took the idea and ran with it, as I always do. With so much fresh fruit in the house the thought of making ‘ice-cream’ without a machine and using no dairy on a hot day was irresistible. I admit to being just a little sceptical as to just how creamy the result would be.

“I can’t believe it’s not ice-cream”
(Serves 4, unless you want to keep it all for yourself)

3 bananas – peeled, chopped and frozen overnight
1.5 large mangoes
1 ripe wipe peach (it was begging to be used, another 1 would have been even better)
a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice

Blend all ingredients in a food processor til smooth. Pour into a container and freeze for at least 3 hours. Remove from freezer 10-15 before serving.

Verdict: yum! Of course I could have used 2 or mangoes or all white peaches if I'd had more. The lime gave the flavours a slight lift. Dupleix does a raspberry version too. Obviously most soft fruits would go well.

Enhancements: a splash of Grand Marnier when serving gives the mango an extra kick.

Variations: any leftovers make a great base for a smoothie.



sure an ice-cream scoop would have made for finer food styling - but it's just lucky I scraped enough of the leftovers out to take a pic before I scoffed it!