Beat the heat with homemade frozen treats

As summer time stretches on for eternity, parents are at their wit’s end trying to entertain their kids. All they seem to want to do is play video games and eat junk food. At Energize Summer Club, kids get the chance to get outside, do some physical activity and keep active during the long summer months with a range of activities from swimming to tennis, drama, arts, football, Spanish and fitness, there is something for all the kids to get up off the sofa for. They will also learn about nutrition and foods that give them energy and keep them healthy. Eating healthier foods doesn’t necessarily mean a complete absence of sugar, but adding more fruit and natural ingredients makes the treats they crave good for them. They make some delicious frozen treats that aren’t simply ice cream.

Ice lollies

Ice lollies are easy to make and can be made in loads of different flavours. Tescoma sell great colourful ice lolly moulds the kids will love but any ice lolly mould will do, even disposable cups! To make these ice lollies healthier substitute the ice cream for natural yoghurt with a bit of honey. If you don’t want to get your blender dirty, or are in a hurry, use a natural fruit smoothie with no added sugar (like Smoochie) instead of the real fruit.

Berry watermelon ice lollies

Ingredients

• Watermelon
• Handful berries
• Icing sugar, to taste

Method

1. Cut the flesh from the watermelon being careful to remove the seeds.
2. Blend the watermelon and the raspberries together.
3. Add icing sugar slowly, tasting as you go along to see if it is sweet enough.
4. Pour into Tescoma ice lolly moulds.
5. Place in the freezer for a few hours until set.

Strawberries lemonade ice lollies

Ingredients

• Handful strawberries
• ½ ripe banana
• Homemade lemonade (recipe below)

Method

1. Blend the strawberries with the bananas.
2. Add the lemonade.
3. Place the mixture in the Tescoma moulds and freeze for a couple of hours until set.

Homemade lemonade

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 4 litres water
• 2 cups fresh lemon juice

Method

1.Make a simple syrup by adding the sugar and water to a medium saucepan.

2.Bring to boil over low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Set aside and allow to cool.

3.Mix the cold water and the lemon juice. Add the simple syrup and stir well.

4.You only need a little bit for the ice lollies but this makes a great refreshing drink.

White ‘n’ blue lollies

Ingredients

• Handful blueberries, fresh or frozen
• A little bit of plain ice cream (vanilla or fior di latte)

Method

1.Mix the blueberries with half the ice cream. This will make the ice cream go blue.

2.Put a spoonful of berry ice cream in the Tescoma ice lolly mould.

3.Follow it by a spoonful of plain ice cream.

4.Repeat until the mould is full.

5.Freeze for a few hours until set.

Creamy cups

Not everything has to be in an ice lolly mould. Use natural yoghurt, sweetened with some honey, and any fruit to create delicious creamy cups you can eat with a spoon.

Berry creamy cup

Ingredients

• 1 cup raspberries
• 1 cup yoghurt
• Drizzle honey

Method

1. Blend the Greek yoghurt with the raspberries.
2. Add some honey for sweetness.
3. Place in moulds and freeze for a couple of hours until set.

Frozen fruit smothered in chocolate

When we started out so many of the kids swore they hated both grapes and bananas, but the chocolate and the pretty colours made them want one anyway and although they started by just picking the chocolate off by the time we were done there wasn’t one piece of fruit left on the tray! Use dark chocolate for the healthiest results, however most kids prefer milk or white chocolate.

Bananas and grapes dipped in chocolate

Ingredients

• Bananas
• Grapes
• Melting chocolate or Nutella to keep the kids happy
• Nuts, sprinkles or anything else you can think of to decorate

Method

1. Cut the bananas in half and insert a lolly stick into them being careful not to break the banana.
2. Take some grapes off the bunch and insert a toothpick into each one.
3. Place on a tray and freeze for a couple of hours.
4. Take the frozen fruit out of the freezer and dip each piece into melted chocolate or Nutella.
5. Decorate with nuts or sprinkles.
6. Place back on the tray and freeze for a couple more hours.

For more information visit www.energizesummerclub.com or contact them on [email protected] 

First appeared in Gourmet Today