A Cure for the Summer Heat

In a frenzy of holiday-weekend madness and another-job-rejection depression, I talked Chad into buying some fudgesicles last week. They're pretty much my favourite icy treat ever. Of course, having bought and inhaled them, I promptly wanted more. I didn't really want the trek to the store, though, especially given the likelihood of the fudgesicles melting on the way home, plus the equal likelihood of me buying more than I intended while there. And then my shoulder angel turned up and reminded me, "You have a recipe for those."

Yes. Yes, I do. A few years ago I was in a Once A Month Cooking craze, and during that time I found a HUGE database of recipes, compiled by mums who wanted to feed their kids homemade food but were constrained by budgets and limited time. There was great stuff on there, and I saved all the ones that sounded good, including this recipe for Magic Mix (which is good for lots of things, btw, not just fudgesicles; that may be a post for another day):

4 c nonfat dry milk powder
1 c flour
½ c vegetable oil


Put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix until it looks like cornmeal. Keep mix tightly covered and store in freezer (or refrigerator). This recipe makes 10 servings. ½ c cornstarch and ¼ c oil can be used instead of the flour and ½ c oil.

When I went looking to see if I could still find the website to appropriately credit the geniuses who shared this with me, I was unsuccessful. I did, however, find an alternate recipe for Magic Mix:

2 1/3 C. Non instant Powdered Milk
1 C. All Purpose Flour
1 C. Real Margarine (not spread) or Butter, at room temperature


Combine dry milk, flour and margarine/butter into a large bowl and mix with electric mixer until it looks like corn meal. Keep mix tightly covered in the refrigerator, it will stay good up to 2 months.

Popsicle molds + ice cube tray of
soon-to-be fudgesicles. I stood my
molds on end because I had an
irrational fear that they would leak. 

So I promptly mixed some up, then launched into the fudgesicle recipe:

½ c sugar
2 cups water
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 t vanilla
2 c Magic mix


In a medium saucepan combine the sugar and cocoa powder. Stir in the Magic Mix and water. Cook and constantly stir over medium heat until the mixture bubbles. Stir in vanilla and beat mixture until smooth. Pour mixture into 3-ounce paper cups. Place a wooden popsicle stick in each cup. Freeze until firm. Popsicle can be stored in a plastic bag in the freezer. To eat, peel off the paper cup. Recipe makes 8 fudgesicles.

I thought this one looked like Darth
Vader's helmet. Then I took a bite out
of it and it really looked like Darth
Vader's helmet.

I tried some of the cooked mix when I switched spoons for filling my popsicle molds, and Wow. It was like hot cocoa had solidified itself into a thick chocolate sauce. Also, the recipe may say it makes eight paper-cup-sized treats, but I filled my four molds and still had enough mix to entirely fill an ice-cube tray.

And the result? Cool, creamy chocolate goodness. However. I will definitely try the alternative recipe for Magic Mix, just to see if I like it better. Also, the fudgesicles are a bit too sweet, and I've (finally!) reached an age where enough is enough as far as sugar is concerned. So, on my next go-round, I'll reduce the sugar as well. Your mileage may vary. Also, if you're doing the ice-cube-tray thing, use sturdy toothpicks.

This would be a fun project with school-aged kids, btw, if there are any mums out there who are having a mid-summer crisis with bored children. When I was a kid, I used to think that every mum but my own was making popsicles with their kids, but now I've come to believe that my mother is probably not alone in her reluctance. :)

Have you ever made your own fudgesicles? Popsicles? Other frozen delights?