Imagine my huge surprise when a few weeks ago I opened my pantry cupboard to retrieve a couple of mangos (yes mangos) I needed for my salad, only to discover there were no mangos; they had been replaced by some papaya fruit! Well they were not exactly replaced… in moment of madness I think I must have picked them up, instead of the mangos I wanted, whilst out shopping a couple of days earlier. I am still foggy as to why or even how this could have happened but it did, so I had to deal with the consequences of my mistake.

Now I like playing the ingredients replacement game as much as the next person but I couldn’t really use papaya instead of mango in my salad as it wouldn’t be a mango salad any more 🙁 I have to admit we aren’t huge fans of the papaya so eating it just as a fruit wasn’t really a viable option… so it was time to get creative.

There is nothing simpler than creating ice lollies so I decided it would be the perfect way to deal with my “unwanted” fruit 😉

Ingredients:

2 large ripe papaya (not mangos!)

4 large juicy oranges; juiced

Method:

Wash, peel and chop the papaya into small chunks.

Juice all the oranges and then pop both the fruit and the juice into a blender.

Blend it for a minute or so until all large chunks have gone and it has nice smooth consistency.

Pour into ice lolly moulds and pop into the freezer.

Allow at least 4 hours of freezing time.

As it ended up they are very enjoyable little treats. There is no added sugar or any other ingredients for that matter so they are diet friendly.

In addition to consuming them straight from the freezer, I’ve used them instead of ice cubes whilst making myself smoothies and shakes. I have to admit they are perfect in this role and provide an incredibly exotic level of additional flavour. I would assume they would work well as regular ice cubes too in an appropriate drink.

Do you prepare homemade ice lollies?

What’s your favourite flavour?

Yum