COCONUT RAINBOW POPSICLES | PLUOT VANILLA LAYER.

COCONUT RAINBOW POPSICLES | PLUOT VANILLA LAYER.
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June 23, 2016

Hello! Alana, Molly, and I made you coconut rainbow popsicles for #POPSICLEWEEK 2016. It’s a little strange to say, but I honestly look forward to Popsicle Week all year. I love their icy hit of sweetness and tang, their individual serving size, the way they reduce their eater to a pure, elemental, childlike state of enjoyment. You can’t hide any psychospiritual truths while you’re eating a popsicle. Don’t even try.

Popsicle Week could not have come at a better time this summer, since temps on Monday topped out at 108º here in LA. The thing this city needed, more than anything else at all, was a mother-friggin’ popsicle. Molly, Alana, and I began planning our popsicle party weeks before Molly arrived from Minnesota. We decided on a three-layer wonder pop (not to be confused with a wonder pup, which sounds absolutely delightful), with a coconut milk base for each.

Alana was enthralled by the idea of coconut and lemongrass, Molly wanted to experiment with rosewater and cinnamon, and I threw out cucumber and basil on my way to a blushing pluot vanilla. Enter the coconut rainbow pop (bonus: they’re the perfect popsicle for any and all Pride month celebrations!).

The other Popsicle Week miracle that happened this year is that Molly’s Airbnb was a Silver Lake daydream of an abode—complete with an adorable vintage stove and luscious central AC. Every corner was optimally photogenic, so we couldn’t resist making use of it for our popsicle party.

The Popsicle King, Billy Green, and Cozy Queen, Adrianna Adarme, paid us a visit to eat pops and poke bowls (Alana makes the best dang poke I’ve ever had) and help snap some photos of us with rainbow pops in hand (thank you for the photos, Adrianna and Billy!).

(Look ☝️! See the rainbows that flitted into the frame of our rainbow popsicle photo shoot?) It was 108º when we took this photo, and somehow the popsicles didn’t melt down our arms likes we had hoped and dreamed. Instead, each layer held up beautifully on its own and in symphony with the others.

The top layer, lemongrass coconut, is sweet and herbaceous, with the exquisite aromatics of fresh lemongrass laced with lemon zest. The second, pluot vanilla, is deeply tart and lush, its gorgeous stone fruit color matched by a flavor that sings of summer sunshine. The third, rosewater, is subtle and mellow, a floral refuge sweetened with maple syrup and rounded out with cinnamon. Together, they’re extraordinary.

And of course, no popsicle party is complete without as many toppings as your heart desires. We settled on toasted coconut, crushed pistachio, rose petals, and flaky sea salt atop a generous drizzle of melted dark chocolate.

In between prepping popsicle layers, we pored over the details that made the Airbnb so generous in its aesthetic appeal: Gorgeous, tiny brushed gold espresso spoons, art that was inviting yet rigorous, vintage window latches, an impressive coffee table book collection, the right mix of marble and wood and metal and glass. I felt the pang, as I often do, of living in a space that I haven’t quite finished moving into. Not with my whole heart.

I’ve lived 90% moved in to most of the “homes” I’ve occupied over the past ten years. It was a habit born of necessity—it always seemed I would need to leave a place eventually. I’ve left gaps in my apartment, places I didn’t quite know how to bring to life. But now, no matter how long I stay, I want to fill my space entirely. I’m tired of leaving, or of being perpetually in the leaving mindset, and I’m ready to let that final 10% of my heart settle into a home. I want to fill my space with art and books and plants that bring me joy, that make me feel more, not less, myself.

I just needed to be in somebody else’s perfect home to push me over the edge. That, and a good dose of Alana, Molly, and coconut rainbow popsicle psychospiritual truth serum, of course.

(What??? I just really like popsicles, ok?)

COCONUT RAINBOW POPSICLES | PLUOT VANILLA LAYER.

makes 10 3-ounce popsicle

Ingredients
  

pluot vanilla layer

  • 2 small-medium sized pluots washed, pitted, and sliced
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup full fat coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or generous ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • pinch sea salt

popsicle toppings

  • 2 ounces dark chocolate melted
  • 2 tablespoons raw virgin coconut oil
  • crushed pistachio nuts
  • rose petals
  • toasted unsweetened coconut flakes
  • flaky sea salt
  • anything your heart desires

Instructions
 

  • Make lemongrass layer from Fix Feast Flair.
  • Fill popsicle molds 1/3 full with lemongrass coconut mixture and freeze about 45 minutes, until hard. While freezing, make pluot vanilla layer.
  • Make pluot vanilla layer.
  • Place pluot slices and granulated sugar in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Stir with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon until they release liquid and begin to cook down. Reduce heat to low, and cook until the liquid starts to thicken, and fruit is completely cooked, remove from heat (7-9 minutes).
  • Scoop out cooked fruit (should be about 1/3 cup; reserve thickened liquid for the rosewater layeand place in blender with 1 cup coconut milk and vanilla. Blend until completely smooth. Once lemongrass layer is frozen, top with pluot vanilla mixture, filling up the second third of the popsicle mold. Return to freezer and freeze 15-20 minutes.
  • After 15-20 minutes, insert popsicle sticks and return to freezer for another 15 minutes, until solid.
  • Make the rosewater layer from my name is yeh.
  • Once pluot vanilla layer is solid, fill the last third with rosewater layer. Return to freezer and freeze another hour, until popsicles are completely solid.
  • Give your popsicles some flair.
  • Line baking sheet with parchment paper and place in freezer. While popsicles freeze, melt chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler, bain marie, or microwave, and keep warm to maintain liquid state. Toast coconut flakes in a dry frying pan over low heat, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent burning.
  • Once popsicles are frozen, remove them from popsicle mold by running mold under warm water and using gentle pressure to pull up and away. Lay flat on parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle pops with chocolate and sprinkle with toasted coconut, rose petals, crushed pistachio nuts, and flaky sea salt, or any other toppings you like! Return to freezer to let chocolate harden, then eat.