After weeks of chilly spring rain, the summer heat made a dramatic entrance. The air conditioning is cranked up and I'm sipping cold drinks at all hours of the day. Is it this hot where you are? If so, take a look at this roundup of 20 cool treats from our archives. I'm craving peanut butter ice cream (with banana chunks, no less) and plum sorbet. Or perhaps ice cream isn't your thing — try blood orange ambrosia instead, or a cool tropical fruit salad. It's time to break out the cool treats!
FROZEN TREATS
• 1 Coconut and Mango Rice Pudding Pops - Coconut rice pudding, frozen with chunks of mango. One of my favorite treats from last summer.
• 2 Beer Popsicles - Yes, beer popsicles. They may sound a little low-brow, but believe me, they're awfully refreshing.
• 3 Cherry Lambic Ice Cream Float - Speaking of beer, fruity cherry lambic makes a great ice cream float.
• 4 Plum Sorbet with Lemon Verbena Cream - A rich, plummy sorbet with herbed sweet cream.
• 5 Sweet Wine Slushies - One more alcoholic treat: Slushy sweet wine, served up in wine glasses. This one doesn't even require an ice cream maker.
ICE CREAM
• 6 Quick Pomegranate Sherbet - A simple pink sherbet.
• 7 Salted Almond Ice Cream - You cannot go wrong with this one.
• 8 Coffee Ice Cream with Hot Fudge Sauce - Cool and creamy, with plenty of coffee flavor.
• 9 Rose Geranium Ice Cream with Pistachios - Another pink treat, studded with pistachios.
• 10 Last Minute Peach & Yogurt Ice Cream - No ice cream maker needed!
• 11 Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Banana Chunks - Peanut butter and banana, oh yeah!
• 12 Creamy, Tangy Lemon Ice Cream - I made this for my wedding. It is quite tangy, and creamy too.
• 13 Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream - With the gentle flavor of real mint, steeped in cream.
FRUIT & OTHER COOL TREATS
• 14 Crisp Meringues with Whipped Cream - Leave your oven off and use storebought meringues with fresh, cool whipped cream.
• 15 Mango Dessert - Mangoes with cream and pistachios.
• 16 Oranges With Lavender and Mint - A simple dish of oranges and herbs.
• 17 Tropical Fruit Salad With Creamy Lime Sauce - Fresh and tropical.
• 18 Avocado Cacao Mousse - A shockingly creamy and easy pudding.
• 19 Blood Orange Ambrosia with Crème Fraiche - A fruit salad all dressed up.
• 20 Avocado Breakfast Pudding - One more avocado pudding.
How are you staying cool in this first flush of summer heat? Any favorite cold treats to share?
(Images: See linked recipes for full image credits.)
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This is incredibly delicious: Make New Orleans-style coffee concentrate (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/style/tmagazine/06ticed.html)
and mix 1 part concentrate with three parts milk. Sweeten to taste. Blend with ice cubes til frothy.
If you want to get more involved, then freeze some of the coffee-milk mixture in ice cube trays, and use those, instead of regular ice cubes. The flavor will be more intense.
Chocolate is delicious in this too of course. I like to add a wedge of Mexican drinking chocolate. It gives it a texture I like, and a hint of cinnamon.
The coffee-concentrate-making process is a little involved, but 1 batch lasts a long time. And it is so worth it--for regular iced coffee and cafe au lait as well as blender drinks.
Those popsicles look amazing! I love the idea of combining mango and coconut.
Since I'm wearing a turtleneck sweater, cords, and rainboots today, I'm guessing these recipes will have to wait a little longer!!!
I made the coconut and rice pudding pops when they were first posted on this site. OMG!!
if you like Thai Mango with Sticky Rice......
MMMMMM...MMMM...MM
I will say no more......
YUM.
I've been snacking on frozen banana chunks. And making smoothies with those banana chunks, some cold avocado, almond milk, and a splash of oj.
I like everything citrus in the heat. Some of my favorites include limonada, lime granita and super lemon ice cream (last two from David Lebovitz). I drink a lot of exotic fruit juices too. Lychee juice is SO refreshing. Now is also the time to get mangos from Pakistan/India/Thailand. They're so fresh and creamy.