Papaya Ice Lollies
by Dr. Hennie Fisher – University of Pretoria

With summer firmly on our doorstep, and the prospect of spending sunny days next to the water, on the beach or perhaps in the cool shade of a large tree, now is the time to start thinking of some holiday snacks. Instead of buying ice lollies that have hardly any nutritional value, and are packed with artificial colourants and flavourants, opt for these super healthy, refreshing and cooling home-made ice lollies. Whether you make them just with fruit or with some dairy added, they are simple, cost effective and super healthy.
Although one does not really need a recipe for this, it is important to get the sweetness to fruit pulp ratio right, or the lollies may separate while being frozen, could become too hard or not freeze at all. The amount of sugar is important not only for taste, but also to ensure the right texture. You could strain the fruit pulp before pouring the mix into the individual lolly moulds, but if your liquidiser does a good job, the resulting purée should be smooth enough without sacrificing any of the fibre from the fruit.
It is of course also possible to make these in colourful layers by adding another fruit and setting the layers one after the other to excite the young ones even further. If you feel like making a grown-up version add a small splash of gin, or for a very trendy option, make thinner lollies and serve them in a glass with a nice tot of fruity gin at the bottom, or top up with sparkling wine.
Ingredients for 6 lollies:
350 g ripe papaya
50 g castor sugar – for an even more nutritious or healthier version, replace with honey
50 ml lemon juice
Method:
Purée all the ingredients in a liquidizer until super smooth and glossy. It should not be necessary to strain at this point, but if you want to ensure that there are no bits of fruit in the mixture, go ahead. Alternatively, you could blitz the mixture for a shorter time which will give you a chunky, irregular mixture – just remember that any bits of fruit will probably freeze hard.
Pour the mixture in a rinsed lolly mould – secure the sticks if your lolly maker allows for them to be inserted from the beginning, alternatively freeze partly and insert ice cream sticks when the mixture is
semi-frozen.
Freeze overnight, unmould and enjoy.