Divas on a Dime: Beat the heat in summer with special treats

When the weather is sizzling hot, or sticky and humid like it’s been all week, nothing is more refreshing than an ice pop to cool you down.

Do-it-yourself Popsicles are so easy, you can literally put any flavors you wish in a Popsicle mold and make people happy. The molds can be found online, in any grocery store, even at the dollar store. Or you can go old school and use Popsicle sticks in a paper cup like back in the day, when we were kids.

Making Popsicles at home can be as virtuous and healthy or as naughty and decadent as you want.

They don’t have to be complicated, you can simply freeze fruit juice, soda or instant pudding and the kids will love them. Made with yogurt, fresh fruit, and rolled in granola they’re a breakfast treat. Made with coffee or your favorite cocktail ingredients and they’re an adult treat. And the best part? You can have an infinity of flavors and they’re still totally cheap!

The recipe I’m sharing this week is a riff on Peach Melba, a dish invented at the turn of the last century by the French chef Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel, London, to honor the Australian opera soprano Nellie Melba. It’s a dessert of perfectly ripe peaches served with raspberry sauce over vanilla ice cream, and features this beautiful seasonal produce at its peak.

This is the time of year when peaches and nectarines are at their flavorful best. Roasting brings out even more of the fruit’s natural sweetness and adds an interesting hint of caramelized sugar. The raspberries add tartness and beautiful color making this a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.

Roast Peach Melba Popsicles

What You’ll Need:

2 ripe peaches or nectarines, sliced

1 tablespoon sugar

Pinch of salt

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

½ cup whipping cream

6 oz. raspberries

Here’s How:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Slice the peaches or nectarines and place them in a glass baking dish. If you’re using peaches, you may wish to discard the fuzzy skin. It’s up to you. Toss with the sugar and salt and roast for 15 minutes. Let cool. Meanwhile, in a blender combine the sweetened condensed milk and cream until well incorporated.

Pour the cooled peaches along with any juice in the baking dish into the sweetened milk mixture. Pulse the blender once or twice to blend the flavors but not purée the peaches. Unless you want to, they’re your peaches after all. I wanted mine chunky.

Place a few raspberries in the bottom of your ice pop mold and top off with the peach mixture, add a Popsicle stick and freeze.

I like to serve these as a nostalgic surprise ending to a dinner party. A perfect way to end the evening on the patio enjoying the sunset. If we’re lucky the sunset will match the orange and red of the Popsicles. We can say we totally planned it that way. Because we’re Divas.

Fabulous Food by Patti Diamond from Divas On A Dime – Where Frugal, Meets Fabulous! Website and blog - www.divasonadime.com Join the conversation on Facebook at DivasOnADimeDotCom.