Pudding Pops

Anyone remember this?

 

I’m totally dating myself, aren’t I?

Jell-O Pudding Pops were one of my favourites when I was growing up. I was very sad when they seemed to disappear from the freezers at the local supermarket. But at least you could still get Instant Jell-O Pudding, so you could make your own.

But now I live in a land where Instant Jell-O Pudding doesn’t exist, and no one has ever heard of a ‘pudding pop’. In fact, ‘pudding’ has a wholly different meaning. Instant Jell-O Pudding is one of the most sought after “home foods” amongst Canadian Ex-Pats. I still have a few boxes in the cupboard, but alas, my attempts at making it will dairy alternatives haven’t been brilliant.

So imagine my glee when I came across this recipe - http://silk.com/recipes/creamy-fudge-pops

With spring well upon us in England (sorry Canadians!), it’s time to start thinking about summer snacks, so I gave these a go. As my ice lolly maker only has room for four, I cut the recipe in half.

I used 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, 1 ½ tbsp of cocoa powder, 1 tbsp of corn flour and 1/2 tsp of vanilla.

Cheers to the friends who gave me the awesome cook's mug for Christmas!

I mixed the ingredients in a saucepan, and cooked it over medium heat, stirring it (mostly) constantly for about 4 minutes.

Then I spooned it into the ice lolly moulds.

A bit messy!

During the obligatory finger licking that comes with cleaning up the spills, I thought that it tasted pretty yummy, but rather bitter. As I like bitter chocolate (I will happily eat unsweetened chocolate), this was not a bad thing, but it was odd in a pudding pop. Then I realised that I forgot to add the sugar.

Despite getting the Prednisolone down to 5mg this week, I clearly still have Pred brain! So back in the pot it went so that I could stir in 1/4 cup of sugar, then I put it back in the mould (involving more licking up spills).

I let them freeze overnight.

They are rather nice! Not quite Jell-O Pudding Pops, but a bloody close substitute!