Lila's Halo-Halo Ice Candy
These simple ice pops are a little fiddly to put together, but they’re fun, delicious, highly customizable, and take up way less space in your freezer than traditional popsicle molds. But if you don’t want to bother with the bags, feel free to use popsicle molds instead.
Yield: about eleven 8x2” bags
Ingredients:
1 12oz can evaporated milk
1 14oz can condensed milk
2 TBSP cornstarch, optional*
Halo-halo fixings, rinsed and drained (your choice):
● Jarred halo-halo mix
● Jarred or canned sweet red beans
● Jarred sweet garbanzo beans
● Jarred nata de coco
● Jarred kaong
● Jarred macapuno OR dried coconut
● Ube halaya (jarred or homemade)
● Saba banana, chopped small
● Jarred or canned ripe jackfruit
Equipment:
Thin plastic bags (I use Frozip brand) or popsicle molds
Funnel
Blender or large mixing bowl with spout
Chopsticks or long-handled tweezers
Directions:
1. Add the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and cornstarch to a blender or large mixing bowl with spout. Fill the empty evaporated milk can with water and add to the mixture as well.
2. Blend or mix everything until completely smooth.
3. Taste the mixture to check for sweetness level--the halo-halo fixings will add additional sweetness, so if the milk mixture is too rich or sweet, add another can or two of water to dilute the mixture to your desired level. Freezing dulls the level of sweetness somewhat, but you don’t want it sickeningly sweet at this stage.
4. Open your plastic bags and use chopsticks or long-handled tweezers to insert 1-2 teaspoons of your choice of halo-halo fixings. Again, the more fixings you add, the sweeter the overall ice candy will be.
5. Using the funnel, pour the milk mixture into the plastic bags or popsicle molds. Make sure to leave room for the mixture to expand in the freezer, about ⅔ of the way. If using the bags, either twist tie or zip them closed.
6. Lay flat in the freezer and allow to freeze at least six hours or overnight.
7. Enjoy!
*I’ve read that cornstarch helps the frozen mixture stay creamy rather than completely icy, but I’ve seen plenty of recipes without it.
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