Honeydew Lemongrass Ice- Pops
We love hiking. Summer weekends are usually spent in the woods, getting the much needed workout and soaking in the sun. We like the slow pace of things, playing made-up games, teasing each other and laughing at things that I bet only we will find funny, planning endlessly as we explore old and new trails and making memories of these perfect family moments to fondly reminisce about later.
One of those sweet memories is definitely going to be our enormous consumption of ice-pops in the summer! After a few hours in the sun, there is nothing more refreshing than coming back to a freezer full of homemade fruit popsicles. Treats that can be consumed just like fruit, there’s no need to keep count or hold back!
So yes, here’s another frozen treat recipe - Honeydew Lemongrass Ice Pops. A little kindergartner in my class once excitedly called honeydew ‘honeymoon melon’. It was so adorable. He looked shy and embarrassed until everyone caught on with the name and the entire class was spent giggling away about honeymoon melons! The name is stuck in my head. Honeydews are forever going to be honeymoon melons for me.
The green honeydew melon is exceptionally refreshing and very sweet when consumed in peak season. It is the sweetest of the melon varieties and a great choice for making healthy treats like ice pops or sorbets as it calls for very little added sweeter.
Honeydew melon pairs well with mint, rosemary, ginger, coconut and lime flavors in drinks, frozen treats, cocktails and mocktails. It’s great in salsas and relishes too. Here I have combined it with lemongrass. The fresh lemony aroma and citrus smell of lemongrass compliments the sweetness of honeydew. Besides, I had to find a way to quickly use up the two stalks of fresh lemongrass that were going old and dry.
Honeydew must be ripe for it’s sweetness to shine. But I admit, it’s hard to find a good one. When it’s not ripe, it can be quite tasteless. Maybe that’s why it isn’t as popular as the watermelon or cantaloupe.
How to pick a ripe honeydew melon?
I can’t say with confidence that I’ve perfected the technique of picking out a sweet ripe honeydew melon every single time, but here’s what you should be looking out for, and seems to work 9 out of 10 times. A ripe honeydew melon feels heavy for its size and its skin is cream colored, not green. Most folks instinctively reach for the greenest melon in the supermarket, thinking it to be sweeter! If the stem depresses a little, the melon is ripe. If it depresses too far, the melon has gone over and is probably mushy inside. Smell the stem side, it should smell like the fruit. Shake the melon before buying. If the seeds rattle, it’s over-ripe. Your best chance of finding the perfect honeydew is obviously when it is in season, which is the end of summer.
How to choose & prep lemongrass?
Lemongrass is fairly easily available at most supermarkets, Asian grocery stores and some farmer’s markets. It is a stalk about one foot long, of which the bottom five inches or so is the most useful part. Buy stalks that feel firm, not soft and droopy, are green on the top and cream/ white at the lower end. Don’t buy brown or woody stalks. Not much flavor there. Fresh lemongrass has a stronger more complex flavor than old dried lemongrass.
To use lemongrass, with a sharp knife cut an inch from the base and peel off the tough outer layers. Cut about 5 inches of the lower white stalk. This is the part we will be using. Cut it into smaller pieces and bruise it with a knife or pestle to release its flavor before adding it to the water.
Honeydew Lemongrass Ice Pops
Makes ~14 3-oz ice pops
Ingredients:
1/2 honeydew melon
About 5 inch stalk of lemongrass, lightly pounded
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp raw honey, I use this one.
1 tbsp lime juice
Preparation:
Wash the honeydew melon and pat it dry. Cut the melon in half. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Slice the half into 3-4 slices. Remove the rind and cut the melon into bite sized cubes.
Bring half cup water and lemongrass to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat. Cover and let it steep for 20-30 mins until the water comes down to being barely warm. Remove the lemongrass with a slotted spoon. Add honey & lime juice to the lemongrass infused water.
Add the honeydew melon & lemongrass water to a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
Taste and adjust for sweetness.
Pour into popsicle moulds of 3 oz paper classes. Freeze for a couple of hours before inserting popsicle sticks in the center of partially frozen ice pops. Freeze again for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
Get the kids cooking:
An easy recipe with two very interesting ingredients to explore. The hardest part would be waiting for them to freeze!
The kids can start with shopping for the ingredients, prep the lemongrass and cube the melon (take the rind off before they do).
If the kids want to pour the liquid into the popsicle molds/ cups, to minimize spills, instead of pouring directly from the blender, it helps to take a little bit out in a small pitcher or glass and let them do this in batches.
Change it up by subbing 8-10 mint leaves for lemongrass.
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