Vegan White Chocolate Magic Shell + Coconut Mango Popsicles
I’m so thrilled to be sharing this recipe with you guys today. Because… it’s hot enough now to eat popsicles! MY FAV. In Virginia it feels like mid-summer already. Sheesh mother nature, chill out a bit will ya?
These pops are delightfully creamy, sweet and mildly tangy — featuring coconut cream, mango, lemon juice and vanilla bean. They kind of remind me of kulfi (Indian frozen ice cream treats that usually come in cream, cardamom, mango, saffron, pistachio or rose flavor). They really cool you down on a hot day -- I've been eating them to help bring my body temp down after sweaty gardening days. You could add a touch of cardamom or rosewater to take these even further into the kulfi territory if you're feeling superbly fanciful.
Just to take it a step into crazy town, I dipped my pops in white chocolate magic shell (and flowers... y'all know how I love to eat flowers!).
If you’re familiar with classic magic shell, my white chocolate version is pretty similar. Liquid when warm, and hard like a shell when it coats frozen treats. Instead of making magic shell out of chocolate and coconut oil this white chocolate version features cocoa butter, coconut oil and cashew butter.
Since cocoa butter doesn’t come with sweetener embedded in its fatty gloriousness, I use powdered sugar OR powdered coconut sugar to sweeten. Powdered cane sugar keeps the white chocolate looking perfectly classic — a creamy off-white. Personally I prefer to use coconut sugar (which I powder in my blender). Of course using coconut sugar makes the white chocolate shell a dark caramel brown color. I like that look, myself. The last ingredient is… vanilla bean powder of course!
As a kid white chocolate was hands down my favorite. I remember obsessing over those Hershey’s Cookies and Cream bars — I begged my mom for them every time we went grocery shopping together. I’ve since grown into my deep-as-a-bottomless-lake love of dark chocolate — I eat a square or two every day! For sanity.
But the nostalgia factor with white chocolate is undeniable for me — maybe you feel the same way? Ever since going dairy free way back in 2010 white chocolate has been a 100% no-go (which gives me the sads). I’ve done my research, y’all, and most of the vegan white chocolate out there is creepy (except this one) -- as in, full of emulsifiers, "flavorings," waxes and not-real-food ingredients.
I’m certain the idea of developing my own real food DIY white chocolate has been bubbling in the background of my brain for most of the decade. I’m proud to say that this recipe does a decent job at harkening back to those white chocolate feels I had in my youth. Not only does it make for a wonderful dip or drizzle for frozen treats, if you pour it into ice cube molds and chill it in the freezer it makes for amazing white chocolate truffles!
Notes:
1. This white chocolate is very much so in the high fat category. It’s higher in fat than dark chocolate. I’m a big fan of fat in food — for flavor and for health. But maybe keep that in mind before devouring all of it at once — which is very tempting.
2. I suppose you could probably make the white chocolate magic shell work with powdered stevia in lieu of crystalline sugar. I’d LOVE to hear how that goes if you try it!
3. Cocoa butter hates water, so do your best to avoid getting any liquid in the white chocolate.
4. If you end up using powdered cane sugar and it feels way too sweet for you, add more cashew butter to-taste to mellow out the flavor. The resulting white chocolate will stay just a tad softer at room temp.
Coconut Mango Popsicles
Author: Renee Byrd | Will Frolic for Food | Active Prep Time: 5 mins | Inactive Prep Time: 4-6 hours | Cook Time: 0 mins | Makes: 6 popsicles
Tips: I use these pop moulds from good ol’ Amazon.
2 cups frozen or fresh mango
2 cups full fat coconut milk (I had to open two 13oz cans to get this quantity)
~2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (~1 lemon)
3 tbsp raw honey or maple syrup + more to taste
1/8 tsp vanilla bean powder
tiny pinch sea salt
- White Chocolate Magic Shell (recipe below)
Optional garnishes: 1/4 cup chopped pistachio nutmeats, edible flower petals like rose or blue cornflower
In a high powered blender, combine the mango, coconut milk, lemon juice, honey/maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt. Blend on high until smooth. If using an upright blender like a Vitamix you may need to use your tamping wand to keep it running smoothly. Otherwise you may need to stop the blender and scrape down the sides to keep it going until totally smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness as needed.
Pour the mango coconut smoothie into your pop molds.
Optional: sprinkle chopped pistachios over the bottoms of pops.
Add pop sticks according to your popsicle mold directions.
Freeze until solid, 4-6 hours minimum.
To remove from the moulds, run warm water over the moulds until they release, sliding out easily.
Dip the pops in white chocolate magic shell, then quickly garnish with edible flower petals while the shell is still wet. Note: The pops are cold enough that the magic shell will set immediately, but if your prep space is warm you might want to set them on a baking sheet after dipping and refreeze for a few minutes until set.
White Chocolate Magic Shell
Author: Renee Byrd | Will Frolic for Food | Active Prep Time: 5 mins | Inactive Prep Time: 0 mins | Cook Time: 5 mins | Makes: 1 cup
Tips: Double the white chocolate magic shell recipe if you want to dip the whole bars in the shell.
1/2 cup virgin food-grade cocoa butter, chopped roughly
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
1 tablespoon cashew butter
1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder*
1 cup powdered cane sugar or powdered coconut sugar*
tiny pinch sea salt
On medium low heat, melt the cocoa butter together with the coconut oil in a double boiler until liquified — I usually just fill a medium sauce pot 1/2 way up with water then set a glass bowl over it to act like a double boiler.
Once the cocoa butter and coconut oil are melted, remove from heat. Stir in the cashew butter and vanilla bean powder, then add the powdered sugar or powdered coconut sugar and a tiny pinch of sea salt. Stir until smooth and even. Voila!
Store sealed in a jar at room temp for up to a week, or store in the fridge for up to a month. As it cools it sets and hardens — so the magic shell will need to be warmed up to about 80 degrees fahrenheit to return it to a pourable liquid state.
*Notes*
Vanilla bean powder cannot be subbed for extract in this recipe. You could use 1/2 fresh vanilla bean pod instead of powder.
To powder coconut sugar, take 1 cup of coconut sugar granules and whirr in a blender until powdery soft. I use my nutribullet for this because it seems to work better for smaller quantities.
Using coconut sugar will make the white chocolate a deep caramel brown color. It also makes this recipe less sweet. If you want that perfect creamy white color you have to use powdered cane sugar or a white 1:1 cane sugar substitute.
