Another summer favourite is the sweet and slightly floral lychee. If you can resist devouring a whole bowl at once (I certainly struggle), why not give these lush recipes a go?
Coconut, lychee & raspberry popsicles
Makes 8
- 300ml coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup or sweetener of choice
- 2 cups (approx. 45) fresh lychees, peeled and seeded
- 1/2 cup fresh or defrosted frozen raspberries
Roughly chop 16 fresh lychees into small 1cm pieces. Set aside.
Add raspberries to a blender and puree. Divide evenly between 8 x 80ml popsicle moulds together with the chopped fresh lychees.
Add coconut milk, maple syrup and remaining lychees to the blender and process until smooth. Pour into popsicle moulds all the way to the top.
Take a butter knife or popsicle stick and swirl the raspberry puree and fresh lychees together with the coconut mixture.
Insert popsicle sticks and freeze for 4–5 hours or until frozen. Remove from the moulds and serve.
Hot tip: You may need to run moulds under warm water for a few seconds to loosen the frozen popsicles.
Lychee rose melting moments
Makes 12-14 | Prep 40 mins | 18 mins
- 250g softened butter
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 80g icing sugar
- 250g plain flour
- 50g cornflour
For the filling
- 80g butter
- 120g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 tsp rosewater
- Pink dye (optional)
- 8 lychees (peeled, seeded, halved or quartered)
Preheat oven to 180oC. Prepare two cookie trays by lining with parchment paper. Place butter, vanilla paste, and icing sugar in an electric mixer bowl with the whisk attachment and beat until light, fluffy and pale in colour. Combine the flours, sift into the bowl and fold into the mixture.
Measuring 2 teaspoons of dough, roll into balls with floured hands and place onto the cookie trays about 3cm apart. Press gently with a floured fork to achieve the classic melting moment shape. Bake for 18 minutes or until cooked through, yet still pale (like shortbread). Allow to cool.
For the buttercream, in a mixer with whisk attachment place the butter, icing sugar, vanilla paste and rosewater in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. If too thick, add more water or milk. Add a small amount of pink dye (if desired) to acquire a pale pink colour and whisk through. The buttercream needs to be firm to hold the lychee in place.
To assemble: With your finger or the back of a spoon, smooth a small amount of icing as a protective layer over each flat side of the cookies (this prevents the moisture from the lychee seeping through). Place the rest of icing into a piping bag, pipe a ring around a melting moment, place a lychee in the middle (a half or quarter, depending on the size) and sandwich together gently with another biscuit. Chill in an airtight container. Best served the same day.
