Banana and honey ice lollies
For appetite that only shows up for something cold
plus at least 4 hours freezing
Makes five or six lollies in standard 80 ml moulds, so two or three each. Halves or doubles exactly.
Cold food often stays welcome long after everything warm has stopped appealing, which is the whole argument for keeping a batch of these in the freezer. Ripe banana blended smooth with yoghurt and milk freezes into something closer to a creamy ice than the watery lollies you buy, because the banana carries enough natural sugar and body to stop it setting rock hard. Blend it properly. Any stray fibrous thread left in the banana will freeze into a stringy strand that catches in the mouth, so a minute longer in the blender than seems necessary is worth it. They take four hours to firm up completely, so make a batch after breakfast and they are ready by the time appetite next asks for something.
Ingredients
Contains: Milk
- 2ripe bananas, peeled
- 100 gsmooth yoghurt
- 100 mlwhole milk
- 2 tbsphoney
Method
Put the peeled bananas in a blender, or in a tall jug if you are using a stick blender, and add the yoghurt, milk and honey.
Blend for a full minute or more, until completely smooth with no fibrous threads left from the banana.
Pour the mixture into lolly moulds, leaving a little room at the top, and push in the sticks.
Freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight, until completely solid.
To turn out, dip each mould briefly in warm water and pull gently on the stick until the lolly comes free.
Watch-points
- Use ripe banana and blend it completely smooth. Any stringy fibre left whole will freeze into a strand that does not soften.
Stoma note: Banana and milk both help thicken loose stoma output, and a frozen lolly is easier to manage than a drink if your mouth is sore from radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
Make it more nourishing
- Whisk 2 tablespoons of skimmed milk powder into the mixture before it goes into the moulds. You will not taste it and it lifts the protein in every lolly.
- Blend in 50 ml of double cream, or use cream in place of 50 ml of the milk, for a softer set that does not freeze rock hard.
- Use 150 g of thick smooth yoghurt instead of 100 g, and drop the milk to 50 ml.
Swaps
- Instead of honey, use golden syrup
- sweetens the same way if honey is not to hand