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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Zoku 1, 2, 3, 4!


Today's post is so not about Lettering Delights or Make-the-Cut but I had so much fun with what I did I just had to share it with you. 

Hubby has had his eyes on this Zoku Quick Pop Maker since last summer but I had told him that we had no use for it so we never bought it. When my friends kept talking about it, I caved and came home with one last Friday.

I've made homemade ice-cream before so this device doesn't intimidate me. In fact, it looks kinda cute. The concept is simple: Freeze the unit for 24 hours, prepare your ingredients, pour it into the cavities and watch it freeze. The ice pops are supposed to be ready in about 10 mins. And so, I excitedly cleaned the Zoku, put it in the freezer and waited for time to pass.

I thought about all the fantastic ice pops that I could make with this device but a search on the Zoku blog turned up only a handful of recipes. Perhaps I should have gotten the Zoku Quick Pops Recipe Book when I saw it at the store but since I didn't, the internet was the only resource that I could turn to. A few minutes of online searching and I was prepared to just go with the flow and make a super simple ice pop.
 

See this funky looking fruit? It's called Lychee and is very popular amongst Asians. We also like the canned version and use it often in our drinks and desserts.


My smarty-pants hubby and kids thought that it'll be neat to make a lychee popsicle from the canned stuff. I thought "What the heck, why not?!" and so we started playing.


First, I halved a couple of lychees.


Next we took the frozen Zoku Quick Pop Maker out of the freezer.


I used the fruit wand to stick a piece of fruit to the side of each cavity.


Put the popsicle sticks in and pour the juice.


Set the timer for 10 mins and watch the popsicle freeze.


2 mins in and we could already see the big freeze happening.


A couple minutes more and I could see the kids drool.


*Ding!* goes the timer but are the popsicles really ready?


Oh yeah!


Perfect lychee ice pops!


My kids couldn't have whined harder when I didn't give them the ice pops as soon as I got them out of the Zoku. 

"Wait a min, babies! Mommy has to take pictures first." 

"Awwwwww......*whine* *whine* *whine*" x3.

With Hubby's help I actually took that picture in lightning speed. Stereo whining never fails to get us working faster.  


Since the unit is supposed to be able to make three batches of ice pops before it needs to go back into the freezer, I let Hubby have a go at it for the second batch. He made ice pops from his Pineapple Orange juice. LOL!


So we've got one more batch to make this round. What's good as an ice pop?

What's that sitting on the counter?

I spy something pink and yummy.......


I just had to give that a shot!


Tada!

Honestly, I think we took too long making the first and second batches so this third batch took a lot longer than 10 mins to freeze. Besides, it has alcohol content and while it was freezing, it was also bubbling so that the resulting ice pops was pretty slushy-like. Still, I've never enjoyed Mike's Hard Lemonade more than I did that night.


There is a Taiwanese restaurant in town that we go to often. The kids really love their Mango-Strawberry ice dessert. When we had dinner there last weekend, the kids were inspired by their dessert and asked if we could use the Zoku to make some strawberry-mango ice pops.


And we did!

For the strawberry portion, we pureed fresh strawberries with sugar and water, and we did the same for the mango part. The resulting Straw-Go ice pop is so yummy it instantly became our favorite popsicle. 

And so with that, we've reached the end of today's special non-LD or MTC post. We'll go back to regular programming tomorrow.

*slurp*



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This post was linked to Skip To My Lou- Made by You Monday (Aug 2).

23 comments :

  1. Wishing I had little kids to make these for! They look great!

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  2. I love popsicles and I would like one right now...for breakfast...after seeing your post. My grandchildren would love these!

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  3. Yummy! I love frozen treats so I'm looking at a Yonana.....you just drop in your frozen fruit and out comes a dessert like ice cream...no dairy though.Hummmm which one to get????

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  4. I saw this when I was in Toronto a couple of weeks ago, and almost bought it, but did not. After reading this post I am totally buying this. My guy's bday is next week, it will be the perfect gift!
    Thanks for the post.

    Beau

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  5. I have been seeing everyone's posts about these on FB and have resisted temptation. Thanks a lot-now an entire blog post about them and I'm super tempted! They look yummy.

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  6. My boys LOVE popsicles, and I've always been intimidated to make my own...that looks so simple and easy! I must now try... =)

    What Taiwanese place do you frequent? One of my best friends is Taiwanese, and every time I'm invited for dinner at her parents house, they always tease me about inhaling all of their food...lol! I would love to get some, even if it isn't her mom's cooking...but I just won't tell her that! =)

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  7. Michelle, this is the restaurant: http://www.yelp.com/biz/facing-east-taiwanese-restaurant-bellevue

    Everything we order there is good. The shop opens at 5pm for dinner and gets crowded really fast so be there early if you can.

    Popsicle-making with the Zoku is really simple. We love the 10-mins pops so much I had to make a post about it. :)

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  8. this totally takes me back to my childhood making little popsicles, of course mine never looked this fancy! that mike's hard lemonade one looks totally yummers!

    -rachel w k
    rwkrafts.blogspot.com

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  9. I read every word, looked at every picture, and enjoyed the whole commentary. I have never heard to this machine. Think I will have to google. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. You're a good mommy, Jin . . . those popsicles look delicious! Thanks for the great review!

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  11. Since you were talking about recipes, cold you post a recipe for the strawberry-mango popsicle?

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  12. The local station does a 'Deal or Dud' segment once a week and they did this pop maker a couple of weeks ago. Worked just like you said! Got 2 thumbs up from the testers. Guess I'll have to get one now that I know it makes 'adult' pops, too!

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  13. You had me at the Mike's Hard Lemonade! Seriously! Although the mango and strawberry one is more my style. :)

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  14. Oh my kids would love this! I would especially like to try the Mike's version of these! Thanks for sharing this:)

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  15. I've been seeing a lot of posts on facebook on the Zoku, I was tempted then, after reading this, I want one!!! My birthday is next month, may have to start dropping some hints to DH! The grandkids sure would love it too :-)

    Jody :-)

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  16. I'm soooo buying one of these!

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  17. Jin everything looks so yummy!! I think I have found a christmas print for my sister in law. She usually makes Popsicles for our three girls out of ypgur and frozen fruit.

    Thanks Jin for sharing!!

    Jamie

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  18. Thank you for sharing your wonderful post! I'm not a huge ice-cream or Popsicle fan... but these do look yummy!

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  19. OOOOH Mike's Hard Lemonade ones YUM YUM, LOL

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  20. Ok never heard of this so I had to read :) Now I want one....hehehehe

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  21. wow...never heard of this invention until your post, better not let my kids see it, otherwise, I'll have to go out and get one. :)

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  22. I have never heard of these but now I want one! Those strawberry mango ones almost look to pretty to eat. Almost! ha!

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  23. They all look so delicious - makes me want to buy one! TFS!

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