Drink-on-a-stick cider lolly

Cider lollies were a feature of many a middle-aged Briton’s childhood. Unlike the ones we used to get from the ice cream van these user proper cider so they contain alcohol are for grown-ups. But you could do something similar using apple juice, the purer the better, of course.

Hard cider but not solid lollies? Try sorbet

If you find using lolly mould doesn’t work because the mixture is too soft you might want to put the result in a glass and treat it like sorbet. Making actual cider sorbet with an ice cream maker is easy. Add a tablespoon of caster sugar and a squeeze of lemon to half a litre of dry cider. Make sure its dissolved. Chill the mixture then put in the ice creamer and churn it until it is smooth. Then freeze it. Variations include making a puree of Granny Smiths or a similar apple and churning the puree with the cider and sugar mixture. If you don’t have an ice cream maker pour the mixture into a plastic container and freeze it until it is slush. Whisk it to break down the ice crystals. Return it to the freezer until it is slushy again, and repeat the whisking. Do this once or twice before giving it at least four hours in the freezer. Before you serve it, leave it out of the fridge for 15-20 minutes to soften. If you over-thaw it you can still treat it as a slushie.

Apple and blackberry, a top tip

Crumble-eaters will know the value of pairing apples and blackberries. You can create an interestingly lumpy but delicious lolly by incorporating fresh or frozen blackberries in the lolly mixture and freezing them all together. Alternatively, you can add a boozy blackberry twist by simmering blackberries with sugar and water until they are mushy, pressing them a sieve and adding cassis. The resulting syrup is them poured into the mould, followed by the apple and cider mix to give the lollies a dark tip. Not unlike a boozer’s conk, but let’s not go there.

Ingredients

Ingredients for 8 x 80ml lollies Dry cider x 1 litre Apple juice x 100ml Lemon juice x 2 teaspoons

Equipment

Pans and lolly moulds for eight lollies.

Steps

Put the cider in a pan and bubble for 5-10 mins to reduce by about half Add the sugar and stir it to dissolve it Add the apple juice and the lemon juice. Stir them in. Let it cool. Once it’s cooled, pour the liquid into a lolly moulds. Leave about 0.5cm-1cm at the top of each for expansion as they freeze. Freeze it for about an hour – until you can stand a lolly stick upright in the mixture. Insert a lolly stick about three quarters the way into each mould. Freeze them for 6-8 hours until they are completely solid. Either serve them now: Dip the mould or run it under warm water for 10 seconds to loosen the lollies. Pull them out firmly by the sticks. Or wrap them individually in baking parchment and put them in airtight freezer bags, and freeze them for a week.