Chill, I’m Not Leading You on a Wild Goose(berry) Chase

…or “Cran This in Your Pie Hole” 😉

Summer is almost over, there’s just no sense in kidding myself any more. As a final hurrah however, I’m bringing you some deliciously refreshing, creamy (possibly also boozy? And by possibly, I mean most definitely 😉 ) custard pops. The dream of these came fairly fully formed in my mind after I received the challenge of making something with gooseberries that wasn’t jam (thanks Erin!). It just so happened that this challenge entered my universe shortly after procuring some elderflower liqueur (oh elderflower, you’re so delicious. Drool…..), so both items will have a starring role here (or should have, more on that later). It also just so happened that I had some leftover custard that I wanted to use before it went bad, as well as wanting to bring in a little tropically goodness and creaminess, so clearly the stars were aligning for me on this one (ah leftovers, have you ever tasted so delicious? The word “leftovers” often seems like a bit of a misnomer to me. It just sounds like such a bad thing. Like the food version of the kid who’s always picked last for the team. Except in this case, it’s the kid everyone judged as being the worst, but then comes out of nowhere and gets the winning goal! Score! …literally and figuratively 😉 . I’m going to forget this in 2 seconds, but from now on, leftovers will be renamed “bonus freebies”. Now doesn’t that sound awesome? Think about it, I’m sure when restaurants, stores, coffee shops etc. give you free perks – “buy an entrée and get a free dessert!” – half the time, they’re probably just trying to use something up before it goes bad. Isn’t that really just leftovers? No one would get excited though if they said “buy an entrée and get some free leftovers!” It’s all in the branding).

Ok, back to my sidenote from above. You may notice the distinctly un-gooseberry look to these pops (unless I’ve managed to procure some secret pink-hued gooseberries? Spoiler alert – no, that didn’t happen). Anywho, I was all excited about the propect of making these, and thus went on a hunt of trying to obtain myself some deliciously tart gooseberries. They were nowhere to be found. They were not at three different grocery stores I visited. They did not show up at the Pickering Farmer’s. They eluded me at every possible turn 🙁 . I thought “Am I just too late in the season or something?” So I Googled Ontario gooseberry season, and was informed that I was right on time (this was still August, so I was still right on time at the time 😉 ). Anyway, after much gnashing of teeth, and knowing that I had my previously mentioned custard waiting to be used up, I took to Google again in defeat asking what the world of the interwebs could suggest to me as a reasonable substitute/ facsimile for gooseberries. Due to their similar size, shape and tartness, cranberries were suggested, and thus, these “Gooseberry” custard pops became cranberry custard pops instead. Although on the one level, I’m disappointed that I couldn’t fulfill the gooseberry challenge, I must admit that these did end up looking fairly aesthetically pleasing at least 🙂

Another upside to this dessert? It has got to be one of the easiest and fastest summer treats to make. By fastest I mean your actual time having to do anything. In the way of all things that are eventually consumed frozen however, you will need to be mildly patient young grasshopper while the magic of the modern day freezer does its work. If you decide you’re too impatient and would prefer to just eat it as soupy pudding, that’s your business. Alternatively, you could build yourself a time machine, and then you don’t have to wait at all (or use the provided-by-nature time machine – also known as “sleep” – and freeze these overnight. You’ll be chowing down before you know it!)