Mango vanilla “petits suisses”

I resisted posting this recipe for a while because “petits suisses” isn’t something most people are familiar with. They are what the French call “fromage frais” that are bought in tiny yogurt containers. Fromage frais is more treat-like, and less acidic than yogurt but firmer and easier to digest than cream. Anyway, French kids eat them like they would yogurt: for breakfast, snack or dessert, topped with honey or sugar. When we first moved here from France I was pleasantly surprised to see them stocked at Carrefour (in store or on their website). If you don’t have any in your neck of the woods, just use the thickest, firmest, most delicious yogurt you can find and add a tbsp of thick cream to it.

So, now for the recipe. Most French moms knows these little frozen treats and the easy way to make them is to mix the fromage frais with jam and then freeze them. But if you have fresh fruit purée, it’s even better.  As luck would have it this week, I had some delicious albeit impossible-to-cut-without-making-a-mess-out-of-them mangoes. You know the type right? The kind you literally need to suck on to eat and end up with threads in your teeth. Anyway, they make an absolutely awesome purée and were destined for these creamy ice pops. Add a bit of lime zest and vanilla and you’ve got an elegant little dessert that is perfect for the hot humid weather we’ve been having lately. They also just take a couple of hours to freeze so you can totally make them in the afternoon to eat that evening.

Ingredients

• 3 petits suisses (that would be about 3/4 cups of fromage frais)
• 2/3 cup mango (the pulp of the small mangoes)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or the seeds of one vanilla pod
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar or coconut nectar (taste and add if you prefer a sweeter taste)
• Zest of 1/2 lime
• 1 plastic shot glass (because you will get 4 servings out of this recipe, the 3 petit suisses containers won’t suffice)
• 4 popsicle sticks

Instructions

1. Take out the petits suisses from their containers, setting the containers aside for later
2. Place the petits suisses and all the other ingredients in a high speed blender and blitz for one minute or until creamy
3. Clean and dry the petits suisses containers. Fill the containers with the mango mixture. You will have extra: place it in the plastic shot glass.
4. Place all 4 containers in the freezer for an hour. Once they have firmed up a little, plant a popsicle stick in the middle of each one and put back in the freezer for another two hours or more.
5. To unmold, place under hot running water being careful not to let any water inside and gently take out each ice pop.