These simple yoghurt popsicles are really just fruit and yoghurt, making them ideal for a quick breakfast, or dessert. Or dessert for breakfast. They are an easy way to use up a glut of plums so keep a batch in your freezer for guilt free snacking.
Total Time Investment: 40 minutes, plus Freezing
There is a certain amount of skill required to successfully eat a popsicle. Too slow and the popsicle starts to melt, drips cascading over your hand and arm before you can catch them with your tongue. Too fast and you run the risk of brain freeze. Then there is the stick to contend with. If luck is on your side, your chosen iced confection will peel away from the stick with ease. If not, you may be blithely licking away at your treat when your tongue rasps over the stick, leaving a strange woody note in your mouth and sending shivers down your spine.
Popsicles have become somewhat fashionable of late. Where once the choice was limited to Twin Poles, Frosty Fruits and Billabongs tucked into a small chest freezer in the corner of the local deli, popsicles now come in any flavour combination you can imagine and are available in dedicated food trucks and pop-up shops. Popsicles, or icy poles as they are still known to most of us, have come of age.
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It is very easy to make popsicles at home. Popsicle moulds come in a vast range of shapes and sizes, and can even be bought in your local supermarket. The advantage of making your own is that you have complete control over the ingredients, which can turn the popsicle into a healthy snack rather than a over sweetened treat.
Plums are abundant at the moment and pair well with spices, red wine and yoghurt. Roasting the fruit concentrates the flavour and allows the spices to infuse the mixture. Plums can be quite tart, so it is necessary to taste the fruit you are using and adjust your sugar requirements accordingly. These popsicles are basically fruit and yoghurt in frozen form, so don’t feel too guilty about eating these for breakfast if it is too hot to contemplate anything else. I certainly wouldn’t.
Ingredient Substitutions for Yoghurt Popsicles
- The plums can be substituted for any other stone fruit. Peaches and nectarines will work extremely well here.
- Use white wine or verjuice in place of the red wine. Or even water will work, although won’t add additional flavour to the plums.
- Any yoghurt can be used in place of the Greek yoghurt. Try a sheep’s milk or goats milk yoghurt in place of the thick Greek yoghurt.
- Try dark brown sugar in place of the muscovado sugar.
Tips & Tricks for Great Yoghurt Popsicles
These homemade yoghurt popsicles will last for over a week in the freezer, and even longer if you wrap the popsicles in plastic wrap or store them in zip lock bags once frozen. So make up a large batch in advance and store them in the freezer until required.
The roasted plums will store in the fridge for at least three days, so can be cooked in advance and then chilled until required. Using chilled plums will also help the popsicles freeze faster.
Start with a smaller amount of sugar when you are roasting the fruit, then taste the puree once it has cooled. Plums vary in sweetness, so if you find the puree too tart, stir in the additional sugar. Freezing the puree will dull the sweetness of the mixture, so make sure it is not too tart to begin with.
If you cannot be bothered making popsicles, the plums make a great dish on their own for breakfast, dessert or for a quick snack. Dollop the yoghurt on top.
FAQ’s About Yoghurt Popsicles
How long does it takes to freeze yoghurt popsicles? It takes at least six hours for popsicles to fully freeze. They may be ready sooner if your freezer is very efficient. They will also freeze faster if your plums and yoghurt are quite cold when you assemble the popsicles.
How do you make popsicles without a mould? Don’t have a popsicle mould? It is possible to still make great popsicles without one. All you need are some cups, pop sticks and this great tutorial.
What happens to yoghurt when you freeze it? Freezing does change the texture of yoghurt, but this is more of an issue if you wish to defrost the yoghurt and use it as you normally would. As these popsicles are meant to be eaten frozen, using normal yoghurt will not be an issue.
Made this recipe? Tell me how it went in the comments below.
And if you loved it, please don’t forget to rate it.
Easy Spiced Plum & Yoghurt Popsicles
Ingredients
- 1 kg (35 oz) plums halved and stoned
- 250 ml (1 cup) red wine
- 2 - 3 Tablespoons dark muscovado sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise
- 5 green cardamom pods crushed
- 215 g (3/4 cup) Greek Yoghurt
Instructions
To make the plum puree
- Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan forced)
- Lay the plums in a single layer in a baking dish.
- Tuck the spices into the plums, sprinkle over the sugar and pour the wine into the bottom of the baking dish.
- Roast the plums for 30 minutes, or until they are completely soft and beginning to slump.
- Baste the plums with the red wine during the cooking time if they look like they are starting to dry out.
- Allow the plums to cool completely.
- Remove the whole spices and puree the plum mixture in a food processor or blender until completely smooth.
To make the popsicles
- Spoon a small amount of plum puree into the bottom of the popsicle mould.
- Dollop in small amount of yoghurt and then cover the yoghurt with more plum puree.
- Continue layering the puree and yoghurt until the moulds are full.
- Insert the popsicle sticks and freeze for 4-6 hours.
Notes
- Start with the lower amount of sugar when you roast the fruit, then taste the puree. If it is quite tart, add the additional sugar.
- Nutritional values are given for the higher amount of sugar.
P.S. Looking for other guilt-free popsicle recipes? Try my Tropical Vegan Breakfast Popsicles or Grab & Go Green Smoothie Popsicles.
Update notes: This post was updated on 28th July 2018 to complete the recipe card and add additional links within the post.
Yummo! I made similar popsicles a while back with apricot instead of plum and I definitely didn’t feel guilty having them for breakfast! I have an abundance of plums from the trees at my parents place so I’ll have to give these a try soon too!
Lucky you to have an abundance of plums. That would be awesome. I’ve also made spiced plum jam before which was lovely. Love apricots as well so will give that a try.
What a beautiful idea. The result is just as beautiful and must taste simply irresistable
Thank you. They are going down a treat in this household at least 🙂
Ooo what a grown-up popsicle! I love the spiced plum and imagine it would pair perfectly with the yoghurt 🙂
I do like the yoghurt in it. It just adds a contrast to the plum I really like. Thanks for hosting.
These have got to be the best looking popsicles I’ve ever seen, I’d never have thought to have frozen fruit puree! The layering and colours are amazing.
Thank you so much Alana. The fruit puree freezes quite well & is not too solid. When I make fruit smoothies I make slightly extra and pour those into posicles moulds. That works really well too.
The first time I said something about a Popsicle to my husband he said, “You mean an icy pole?” I rolled my eyes and said, “Must be.”
I love the ingredients in your gorgeous popsicles and I certainly needed one in the heat we had today.
That is something along the line of what The Princess said to me 🙂 She told me she still calls them icy poles too. Thanks for your lovely comments.
Yum! I think this is my favourite so far! Great flavour combo! 😉
Thank you very much Alison.
I am in love with these! I did a spiced plum version but what a great idea to roast them with red wine – swooning!
I think I may have an issue JJ. I tend to roast most of my fruit with wine 🙂
Well these look irresistible. I imagine the sweet plum with the tangy, creamy yoghurt would be a wonderful contrast of flavours.
Thank you Deepa. I do like the contrast. So much so I may be tempted to up the yoghurt next time.
How totally delicious! I’ve been gardening for the last three hours and could gobble one of those down right now! Do you deliver?
Would love to deliver Liz 🙂 Wonder if I can swing that by the husband 😉