I am not excited about summer in DC. But I have been inspired with some creative cooking in my attempts to keep cool. Iced tea. Quinoa tabbouleh. Kale slaw. (More on that later.) And especially popsicles.
It’s hard to believe it was 2 years ago that I bought my popsicle molds, and raved about the possibilities of homemade popsicles. But this week, the day after I got back from my trip, I was mixing up a new flavor, inspired by my friends Thomas and Liz who carpooled with us. On the trip, Thomas told us that his favorite new thing was coffee ice cubes, which make the best iced coffee ever, because they don’t dilute the coffee as they melt. I rarely drink iced coffee at home (though I occasionally indulge in a too-sugary icy thing from Starbucks), but freezing beverages makes me think of popsicles, and I started thinking that coffee pops sounded like a really good idea. Flavored coffee, like thai coffee, sounded even better.
There’s only one trick to making these, and that’s the sweetened condensed milk. Not every liquid gives you the right consistency for a popsicle when you freeze it. If you freeze tea straight (and I’m pretty sure coffee is the same), you get something you can break your teeth on, basically an ice cube. The best you can do is suck on them as they slowly melt. Juices freeze better, presumably because their sugars break up the ice crystal. Same goes for the fats in milk and yogurt. That’s the role that sweetened condensed milk plays here.
All ingredients are to taste – but they should taste strong, because all the flavors will be more subdued once the coffee is frozen. Cardamom is the most traditional flavor, but I added a couple others to make it more chai-like. You can also use tea or chai in place of coffee. This works best if you have your own popsicle molds (and I highly recommend them), but if you don’t have them, well, you’re a resourceful person; I’m sure you can find a way around that.
| Thai Coffee Popsicles |
Print
|
- Strong coffee (enough to fill your molds)
- Sweetened condensed milk (or milk and sugar)
- Ground cardamom
- Ground cinnamon (optional)
- Ground cloves (optional)
- Brew the coffee. Pour it into a bowl and let it cool slightly. Start stirring in sweetened condensed milk, a spoonful at a time. The color of the coffee will lighten dramatically. Keep adding until the coffee is a little sweeter than you’d want to drink – I used 3-4 tablespoons of condensed milk in about 2 cups of coffee, and that was more than I needed.
- Add cardamom and other spices to taste (again, just a bit stronger than you’d want to drink). Stir well, then let the coffee cool to room temperature. Stir it again before pouring into the molds, as the spices may settle to the bottom.
- Freeze overnight, or until solid. They’ll keep in the freezer indefinitely, but if your weather is like ours, they won’t last that long.