Fresh coconut milk fruit popsicles

Prep Time:       20 min

Blend  Time:     5 min

Total Time:       25 min plus 4 ½ hours freeze time.

Yield:                10 popsicles

Ingredients

• 2 mature coconuts (water and meat) 
• Water as needed
• ¾ cup (177ml) fresh squeezed blood orange juice (about 3-4 oranges)
• ½ cup (118ml) pomegranate juice
• 3 tablespoons (63g) light agave syrup, divided
• 1 ½  teaspoons (6g) vanilla extract, divided

Method

1. Make the coconut milk. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the brown skin from all the coconut meat. Measure the coconut water collected from your coconuts and add enough water to create 3 total cups (700ml) of liquid. Add both the coconut meat and the liquid to a saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Allow to simmer for three minutes, then turn off heat. Allow to cool slightly.
2. Scoop half of the coconut meat from the saucepan and add it to your KitchenAid blender along with half of the warm liquid. Turn blender to “Ice Crush” setting and let the cycle run through. Add the remaining coconut meat and warm liquid to the blender, and blend again on “Ice Crush” setting until cycle runs through. Finally, set the blender to the “Icy Drink” setting and let the cycle run through.
3. Lay a large piece of cheesecloth into a big bowl and pour half of the coconut mixture from the blender in the middle of the cheesecloth. Using clean hands, gather the ends of the cheesecloth and squeeze the coconut pulp to release as much milk as possible into the bowl. Place pulp into a bowl and discard cheesecloth; repeat with second cheesecloth and remaining coconut mixture. (See Chef’s Notes about using leftover pulp - or, discard the pulp.)
4. Make the popsicles. Add the coconut milk, 2 tablespoons (42g) agave syrup, and ¾ teaspoon (3g) vanilla extract to the blender. Blend on speed 2 for 10 seconds. Carefully pour the sweetened coconut milk into the bottom ⅔ of each popsicle mold. Place the popsicles in the freezer without the sticks for 10 min.
5. In a small bowl with a spout, mix together the blood orange juice, pomegranate juice, and remaining agave and vanilla. Quickly whisk, then pour the juice mixture over the coconut milk layer in the popsicle molds. Place the lids on the popsicle molds and insert the sticks. Freeze for at least 4 hours.

Chef's notes

1. Using mature coconuts can be daunting at first, but don’t be shy. First, to pick a good mature coconut, shake it and you should hear water inside. (If there is no water sound, the coconut is rotten.) Next, find the “eyes” of the coconut and puncture the most tender of the three “eyes” with an icepick or wine opener to create a hole. Drain the coconut water from the coconut into a bowl. Once the water is fully drained, hold a hammer in one hand and the coconut in the other, and carefully begin tapping along the centerline of the coconut, turning the coconut slightly after each tap. Do this until the coconut cracks in half. (You can also do this by placing the coconut on a hard surface.) Finally, to take the flesh from the shell, insert the tip of a knife between the meat and the shell and twist to lift the meat. (If the coconut isn’t completely dry, it will be harder to remove. So, just slice the meat into small sections in the shell, and then remove in smaller sections.)
2. Heating the coconut and water together yields a richer, creamier milk - so don’t skip this step! The more coconut water you use, the creamier the popsicle; the more water, the more sorbet like the end result will be.

NOTE ON LEFTOVER COCONUT PULP

1. Your KitchenAid blender easily turns coconut pulp into highly-prized coconut flour. First, preheat the oven to 120 degrees and spread the coconut pulp out on a sheet pan. Bake the pulp for 30-40 minutes, or until dry to the touch. (You’ll want to shake the pan occasionally while baking and turn the pulp to aerate it.) Remove from the oven and, once cool, add the pulp to your blender and blend on speed 5 until pulp is the consistency of flour. Store in an airtight container.
2. As fruit sweetness varies, feel free to add or reduce the agave in this recipe. Keep in mind the sweetness will lessen in strength when frozen.
3. Don’t have blood oranges? You can swap the citrus for Cara Cara or Navel oranges - both of which pair nicely with the pomegranate juice. Or, get creative!