Strawberry Blueberry Lavender Honey Lemon Yogurt Pops
Could I have come up with a longer name for these little guys? I practically just call them the entire ingredient list, but at least you know how special they are.
These popsicles are a mix of two recipes that I’ve really liked making during summertime over the past few years: Cupcake Jemma’s “Super Easy Blueberry and Yoghurt Popsicle” recipe and another blueberry yogurt popsicle recipe on Cookinglight.com from circa 2017, called “Blueberry-Lavender Yogurt Pops.” Both are great recipes, but I’ve made a few adjustments just to suit my tastes, and I think you’ll agree, these popsicles are something special. I add lemon juice to my berry compote for more depth of flavor; I add a strawberry compote layer, because I just hate to miss an opportunity to make something red white and blue during the summer; and I add far more lavender than Robin Bashinsky at Cooking Light calls for, because, why not add more? The smell is amazing when you’re making the honey-lavender-lemon syrup; it smells like a really nice shampoo. The flavor, though, when you can actually capture it in the syrup, and not lose it, is lovely. That’s the only word I have for it: lovely.
Two other crucial changes I’ve made to the two recipes that inspired me are, I use full-fat Greek yogurt, specifically Fage Total 5%. I use this yogurt specifically for its fat content so my pops don’t freeze into absolute bricks of ice. I also add 1 teaspoon of some sort of 80 proof liquor such as vodka or gin at each step in making each layer, and for the same reason. I want yogurt pops with the texture of Jell-O Pudding Pops, not ice cubes on a stick.
Since 2017, I’ve made these Strawberry Blueberry Lavender Honey Lemon Yogurt Pops as soon as the lavender in my yard has bloomed, the bees seem to be finished with it, and before we deadhead it. That time, my friends, is now.
Strawberry Blueberry Lavender Honey Lemon Yogurt Pops
You’ll Need:
(Makes 10 popsicles.)
For the Blueberry Compote Layer:
- 200g blueberries
- 50g granulated sugar
- 1 hefty lemon cheek, or up to half of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp 80 proof liquor such as vodka or gin
For the Strawberry Compote Layer:
- 200g strawberries (after they’ve been hulled)
- 50g granulated sugar
- 1 hefty lemon cheek, or up to half of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp 80 proof liquor such as vodka or gin
For the Lavender Honey Lemon Yogurt Layer:
- 6 Tbs honey (132g)
- 1/3 cup water (80g)
- 10-20 sprigs of fresh lavender*
- 2 – 4 hefty lemon cheeks**
- 1 tsp 80 proof liquor such as vodka or gin
- 2 ¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt (425g)
*If you don’t have any lavender plants, or if your neighbor doesn’t have any that you can deadhead for them while they’re not looking, you can use dried lavender available in most grocery store’s spice aisle. Use 2 -4 tsp of dried lavender.
**I also toss in the leftover rind from making the berry compote layers.
Begin by making the compote layers.
Pour your 200g blueberries and 50g sugar into a medium saucepan and turn the heat to medium. After 1 minute, stir the sugar to coat the blueberries and also to keep the sugar from burning on the bottom of the pan.
Once the blueberries start to look a little juicy, smash them with a potato masher. (Here’s a funny tip that is one of the first cooking tips I ever learned from Kevin. If you don’t have a potato masher, a wine bottle does the trick! Too funny, but it sure works.)
Once the berries are pretty well mashed, stir in all of the sugar. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon cheek. If you know your tastes pretty well and know that you like a little tartness in your jams, go ahead and squeeze in the juice from up to half a lemon. Save the peel for infusing your lavender honey, though, so don’t toss it just yet.
Once the berries are mashed, the sugar is stirred in, and the lemon juice is added, let it be and the mixture will come to a simmer. Allow it to simmer for 5 minutes. About 3 or 4 minutes in, stir just to move things around on the bottom of the pot.
After simmering for five minutes, remove from the heat and add 1 tsp of vodka or gin and stir to completely combine.
Transfer to a jar or bowl and set aside.
Hull and quarter the strawberries, and the repeat the same process with them.
Add them and the sugar to the pot on medium heat, stew a bit, stir the sugar. Mash. Add lemon juice. Allow to simmer 5 minutes. Stir once towards the end of the 5 minutes. Remove from the heat to add the liquor. Transfer to a jar or bowl. Set aside.
Now it’s time to make the lovely yogurt layer.
Into a medium pot, place your 132g of honey, 80g of water, 10-20 sprigs of lavender, 2 lemon rind slices plus the rinds from making the two compote layers. Turn the heat to medium-high and stir to dissolve the honey. (Don’t worry if your lavender looks like it’s falling apart; you’ll strain that out eventually.)
Cover the pot and allow it to come to a low boil. Boil only for a minute or so.
Remove the pot from the heat let it sit for 15 minutes.
Strain the syrup through a sieve, add 1 tsp of liquor, then set aside to cool completely, about 10 minutes or so should do it.
Next stir in the yogurt. Stir slowly at first, but then keep going until you get a nice silky smooth yogurt.
Ladle all the layers into popsicle molds.
I like to start and finish each lolly with the yogurt layer.
Spoon in about 1 tablespoon of the yogurt layer into each popsicle mold.
Then spoon in a heaping teaspoon of the strawberry compote layer.
Then spoon in about a teaspoon of the yogurt again.
Then spoon in a heaping teaspoon of the blueberry compote.
Then top each mold off with another teaspoon of yogurt.
You can use the handle of a spoon and push down on each side to create a slight swirl in your lolly.
If your mold has a lid, pop on the lid and insert the sticks.
Make space in your freezer, (easier said than done, I know.)
Freeze for at least 4 hours.
To unmold the popsicles, it really helps to either dip the molds in a large bowl of warm water or to run each mold under warm water.
They can be wrapped in some handy popsicle wrappers, then piled in a Ziploc bag for extra security, or you can wrap each one in parchment paper, and put the paper-wrapped popsicles in a zip loc freezer bag, in the freezer of course.
I really hope you try making these, and as always, I hope you
Enjoy!
–Becky
Download the recipe file here.
