Easy Rum and Raisin Popsicles

I have a particular fondness for rum-and-raisin-flavoured ice cream because it reminds me of my childhood. These fruity, boozy ice creams are so easy to make and make a great finish to a Southern Hemisphere festive meal.  They contain that most unfashionable ingredient, condensed milk, and are whipped together ready for freezing in under ten minutes (although you will need to soak the raisins for six hours in advance).

Easy Rum and Raisin Popsicles. I took this picture on a hot day, and my oval
ice tray shattered as I placed it on the board. 

I'm impatient with foodsters who consider condensed milk (like its cousin evaporated milk) a trashy ingredient.  It's really versatile for quick desserts, its chief advantage over sugar being that you don't have to wait for it to dissolve. This recipe is loosely based on my Frozen Lemon Cream Dessert (from my book Scrumptious Food for Family and Friends).

I use shot/tequila glasses as moulds because I love their shape - you can buy these in bulk in big hypermarkets. If you don't have any ice-cream sticks, use silvery teaspoons (bowl side down), which work just as well.

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Easy Rum and Raisin Popsicles

½ cup (125 ml) raisins
½  cup (125 ml) dark rum, plus more to taste
1 x 385 g tin condensed milk
1 Tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice
1 Tbsp (15 ml) good instant coffee (this produces a pleasing colour)
1 tub (250 ml) whipping cream

Soak the raisins in half a cup of rum for about six hours, or until they have absorbed most of the alcohol. Strain them (reserving the liquid), place them on a board and chop them roughly, leaving a few whole. Put them into a mixing bowl along with the rum they soaked in and add the condensed milk, lemon juice and coffee. Whisk well to combine. In a separate bowl, beat the cream to a soft peak, then  fold the cream very gently into the condensed milk mixture.

At this point, you may want to add more rum to give the ice creams a proper kick.  I add about a quarter of a cup (80 ml) more, but you can gently mix in up to 100 ml extra.  Don't overdo the rum, however, as alcohol can inhibit the freezing of ice cream, and your lollies will not hold their shape when you unmould them.

Spoon (or pipe) the mixture into the glasses or your moulds, filling them right to the top, and push in a stick or teaspoon. If the sticks won't stand upright, wait for 20 minutes, or until the mixture has firmed a little.  Freeze for 6-8  hours, or until solid.  It's tricky getting these to stand up in a freezer with drawers, so I suggest you empty out a drawer and put a small tray in it. Push the drawer half closed so it's standing level, then put the glasses on the tray one by one before pushing the drawer all the way closed.

To remove them from their moulds, heat a damp dishcloth in the microwave and briefly wrap it around each glass while gently twisting the stick and pulling upwards.

Serve on a bed of crushed ice, or on an ice sheet made by pouring water into a tray and freezing it overnight.

Makes about 12 lollies, depending on the size of your mould.  

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