Classic Snacks Made from Scratch (15 page)
Read Classic Snacks Made from Scratch Online
Authors: Casey Barber
ASSEMBLE THE POPSICLES:
Completely fill 6 (3-ounce) Dixie cups with the ice cream, insert Popsicle sticks, and freeze for 2 hours until fully hardened.
While the vanilla layer chills, whisk the orange juice, half and half, and powdered sugar together in a liquid measuring cup. Set 6 (5-ounce) Dixie cups on a small, freezer-safe plate or baking sheet and pour 1/4 cup of the orange juice mixture into each cup.
Peel the Dixie cups off the frozen ice cream and insert the pops into the orange juice–filled Dixie cups, pushing down to displace the juice and cover the ice cream entirely. Add more juice to cover as necessary. You may have to weigh the ice cream down with an additional baking sheet and bag of frozen peas to make sure the vanilla layer stays submerged.
Freeze for 4 hours, until the juice is fully hardened. Peel the Dixie cups off before serving.
Store the Popsicles in the freezer in an airtight container for up to a month.
STICK IT TO ME
You’d think that supermarkets would stock Popsicle sticks next to the Dixie cups each summer, anticipating that hordes of families would bum-rush the aisles with ice cream recipes in hand. Sadly, most grocery stores don’t have them. Go to your local craft store, where you can buy Popsicle sticks by the hundreds and be set for life.
For those with memories of watery Fudgsicles (especially people like me who often got shafted with the generic version), prepare for a surprise. These aren’t the sugar-free snacks that South Beach Diet advocates swear by. These are unapologetically full-fat, full-carb pops that are much creamier and icier than the faux-sweetened pops passed off in the freezer aisle. Yet they’re one of the simplest ice cream pops to make—a quick chocolate base, chilled and squeezed into molds and left to do its thing.
YIELD:
6 Popsicles
TOTAL TIME:
1 hour, plus 2 to 6 hours chilling time
DIFFICULTY:
2
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
ice cream maker, Popsicle molds, fine-mesh strainer
1 cup (3 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (3-1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1-1/2 cups whole or reduced-fat milk
INSTRUCTIONS:
Sift the cocoa powder through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl, pressing on any lumps to break them up and push them through the mesh. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch into the cocoa powder until the mixture is uniform in color.
Bring the cream and milk to a bare simmer in a 1-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. When the liquid starts to steam, whisk in the dry ingredients until completely incorporated. When the mixture comes to a simmer, whisk for 1 minute more until thickened.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until completely chilled (or use the quick-cool method,
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). When the ice cream base is fully chilled, freeze it in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When it has completed its cycle and has soft-serve consistency, transfer the ice cream to a zip-top bag. Make an instant pastry bag by twisting shut (without sealing) and cutting a small triangle off one corner.
Fill 6 standard (3 to 4 ounce) Popsicle molds with the chocolate ice cream, then freeze for at least 2 hours until completely chilled.
Store Popsicles in the freezer in an airtight container for up to a month.
Whether you’ve been saving a spoonful of tapioca pudding for the grand finale of your lunch lineup, waiting to carefully unspool a strawberry Fruit Roll-Up for a snack break, or planning to sneak a bag of homemade caramel corn or Sour Patch Kids into a matinee of the latest Hunger Games installment, keeping a little bit of sweetness on hand always helps the day go faster. So maybe you were never able to pass these goodies off to your parents as healthy snacks. But everyone deserves a little bit of dessert now and then.
Long before Fruit Roll-Ups started appearing in test-tube colors such as neon blue and Slimer green, the sticky sheets came in more natural flavors: apricot, cherry, banana, apple, and strawberry. And apricot retains cult status among adults of a certain generation who remember the squeaky “criiicccck” of peeling the Roll-Up from its plastic wrapper— as my friend Rich says, “So loud to open, it would wake up your parents.”
The aroma of the simmering apricot purée for this homemade version is an instant olfactory nostalgia blast, and the final product is just as jewel-toned and fruity as the original, if not as exciting to unpeel. Some things just can’t be replicated.
YIELD:
12 (5 by 5-inch) rolls
TOTAL TIME:
6 to 7 hours, plus cooling time
DIFFICULTY:
2
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
blender or food processor, Silpat liners (recommended)
1 pound apricots
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup (3-1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
INSTRUCTIONS:
Bring a 4-quart stockpot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Fill a large bowl with ice water.
Cut a shallow X in both ends of each apricot. Gently drop the fruit into the boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds to loosen the skins. Remove using a slotted spoon or metal skimmer and place in the ice water. Cool for 3 minutes, then use your fingers to gently peel the skins off. Halve and pit the apricots.
Place the apricot halves in a blender or the bowl of a food processor. Add the lemon juice and blend for 1 minute, until a smooth purée forms.
Pour the purée into a high-sided pan or Dutch oven (the wider the better, to help the liquid evaporate evenly). Stir in the sugar and bring to a low boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often. Watch for visual cues: the liquid will foam, then clarify as the bubbles slow and the purée thickens. At the final stage, the purée will be consistently thick and almost opaque, “mounding” slightly instead of immediately seeping back when pushed across the bottom of the pan with a spatula.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 175°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with
parchment paper or Silpat liners. Divide the cooked fruit between the baking sheets and spread evenly, using an offset spatula or silicone spatula, into as thin and wide a rectangle as possible. The jam should be no more than 1/8 inch thick but still as evenly opaque as you can manage; thinner, more translucent spots will harden into brittle.
Cook for 5 to 6 hours, or until the fruit feels slightly tacky but no longer sticky. The timing will depend on the humidity level; a rainy day makes for a longer set.
Transfer the parchment or Silpats to wire racks and cool completely, then transfer to a sheet of waxed paper large enough to leave overhang on all sides. Use kitchen shears to cut the fruit leather into 6 (5 by 5-inch) squares. Fold the extra waxed paper over the edges before rolling so they won’t fuse.
Store the Roll-Ups at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.
SHAPE IT UP
Stars? Hearts? The map of New Jersey? Making peel-out shapes on your Fruit Roll-Ups is as easy as busting out whatever cookie cutters you’ve got rattling around in your drawers. Once you’ve transferred the Roll-Up to waxed paper, use your favorite cookie cutters to stamp shapes in the fruit leather, pressing gently but firmly and wiggling the cutter back and forth if necessary. Be careful not to cut through the paper!
There’s a seminal moment in everyone’s childhood that leaves us looking back as adults with profound appreciation for our underpaid and overworked teachers. For me, it was when my second-grade teacher, Mrs. Basista, let us eat snacks while she read aloud the original story of Pinocchio—not the sugarcoated Disney version. Letting the gritty texture of a strawberry Fruit Roll-Up melt slowly on the tongue and nestle into my molars while losing myself in a well-told whale’s tale was a learning experience I still savor.
Make double batches of these in the spring, when tiny, sweet berries are in season, for a Roll-Up more luscious and pure than any you’ve tasted before. And yes, that includes the natural “fruit leather” varieties.
YIELD:
12 rolls, 5 by 5-inch size
TOTAL TIME:
6 to 7 hours, plus cooling time
DIFFICULTY:
2
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
potato masher, blender, Silpat liners (recommended)
1 pound strawberries, hulled
3/4 cup (5-1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut the strawberries in half or quarters, depending on size, and mash roughly with a potato masher in a large bowl. You should have about 2 cups mashed berries. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to break down the berries slightly. Stir once or twice while they sit to dissolve the sugar.
Pour the strawberries and their natural syrup into a blender and blend for 1 minute, until a smooth purée forms. Pour into a high-sided pan or Dutch oven (the wider the better, to help the liquid evaporate evenly) and bring to a low boil over medium heat.
Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often. Visual cues are your best friend when you’re cooking fruit: the liquid will foam, then clarify as the bubbles slow and the purée thickens. At the final stage, the purée will be consistently thick and almost opaque, and it will “mound” slightly instead of immediately seeping back when pushed across the bottom of the pan with a spatula.
Preheat the oven to 175°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.
Divide the cooked fruit between the baking sheets and use an offset or silicone
spatula to spread evenly into as thin and wide a rectangle as possible. The jam should be no more than 1/8 inch thick but still as evenly opaque as you can manage; thinner, more translucent spots will harden into brittle.
Heat in the oven for 5 to 6 hours, or until the fruit feels slightly tacky but no longer sticky. The timing will depend on the humidity level; a rainy day makes for a longer set.
Transfer the parchment or Silpats to wire racks and cool completely then transfer the fruit leather to sheets of waxed paper large enough to leave overhang on all sides. Use kitchen shears to cut the fruit leather from each pan into 6 (5 by 5-inch) squares. Fold the extra waxed paper over the edges before rolling so they won’t fuse.
Store the Roll-Ups at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.
SUPER SILPATS
If you’ve been eyeing Silpat liners, those reusable silicone baking liners, now you have an excuse to buy one or two. I find Silpats the best surface, hands down, for evenly spreading the thick fruit jam for roll-ups. They won’t bunch and tear on you the way parchment paper can—and who wants to scrape the jam off a ripped sheet and start again?
