Blackberry Maple Cream Popsicles {vegan, refined sugar-free}

Name: Blackberry Maple Cream Popsicles {vegan, refined sugar-free}
Prep time: 70 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 10 (3-ounce) popsicles
Ingredients: ½ cup raw, unsalted cashews ((70 g) ); 3 tablespoons maple syrup ((45 ml) ); ¼ cup water ((60 ml) ); seeds from ½ vanilla bean ((or ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract)); pinch fine sea salt; 1 cup well-shaken full-fat coconut milk ((120 ml) ); 12 ounces blackberries, rinsed and picked over ((340 g / 3 cups) ); ¼ cup maple syrup ((60 ml) ); 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (to taste) ((15 – 30 ml) ); seeds from ½ vanilla bean ((or ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract))

Jump to Recipe / Print Recipe

Maple syrup and vanilla enhance deep, dark blackberries swirled with cashew coconut cream – summer goodness on a stick.

Wit and Vinegar’s Popsicle week is one of my favorite times of the year, a time when bloggers from around the world outdo themselves making frozen sweet treats of all ilks. However, this popsicle week got off to a rough start.

I hopped in Emma‘s car and the two of us drove all the way to northern Oregon for a food event. I had been fighting a cold and hoped I could stave it off with plenty of “rest,” i.e., sitting in the car listening to Aziz Ansari and eating the best food Ashland and Portland had to offer. Luck was not with us; every Airbnb, hotel, and “glamping” situation seemed to come with a slew of problems. Much-anticipated restaurants that promised to be amazing were just so-so. Rain seemed to follow our unprepared selves wherever we went. The trip seemed cursed.

And yet I managed to stay well all the way until we reached our destination – only to find it far colder, more drizzly, and outdoors than we had realized. Despite my best efforts (hiding in the house on the sofa under a blanket with the owner’s dog) I came down with the mother of all summer colds on the drive home – and so did poor Emma, who drove the entire way and whose birthday it is today. WOMP. I arrived home Monday evening, went straight to bed, and spent the next two days watching Netflix with a box of kleenex and a cat who ignored me.

On the plus side, the berries in Oregon were sublime. We enjoyed them on warm oatmeal from NW Raw in Ashland (recipe reproduced here), turned into sauce and drizzled over crepes, and stirred into cocktails (that I took only the tiniest taste of – promise!).

Hankering for more deep, dark berry goodness, I mixed up these easy-peasy pops that capture the wild flavor of blackberries.

I’ve been on a cashew cream kick lately and here soaked, pureed cashews add body to coconut cream and temper the strong flavor of canned coconut milk, adding nutty depth that blends beautifully with the berries. Blackberries kissed with maple syrup, vanilla, and a bit of lemon juice get extra oomph, and the swirly pops make a pretty, and pretty healthy, summer treat.

Take a gander at all the amazing creations for this year’s Popsicle Week over at Wit and Vinegar. Stay well!

More Popsicles Recipes:

*Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this blackberry and maple popsicle recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.*

0 from 0 votes