My newest gadget: the Zoku – a magical frozen treat maker!

I am in love. Head over heels in love. With an object. A cold, inanimate object with a vaguely Japanese-sounding name. I know what you were thinking you extremely cheeky monkeys. And it’s not that.

It’s this.

Yes, I’m in love with my new instant icey-pole maker. Or is it a popsicle maker, dude? Or is it an iced-lolly maker, guvner?

It doesn’t matter what we settle on calling it, all you really need to know is it lets you make amazing frozen things on your bench in under 10 minutes.

Like this lovely thing.

Here’s the littlest Betty enjoying hers.

To make this, I used scissors to cut a love heart from one of those flat, fruit strap snacks and popped it on the edge of the mould and held it in place using a skewer while I poured in banana and mango nectar. 8 minutes later, I popped 3 of them out of their moulds and did a little dance of excitement.

Here’s a tip for young players: make sure you put your heart in upside down so that when you pull the pop out and flip it right side up, you don’t have to then flip your pop wrong side up again to admire your heart. Otherwise, flipping hell.

Here’s one we tried with the same juice but after a couple of minutes when a juice “shell” had formed, we removed the excess (now a slushy-type mixture – okay, my husband sucked it out through a straw which kind of grossed me out but that’s what the Zoku guide said so who am I to judge?) and then poured in a mix of natural yoghurt mixed with strawberry jam. We didn’t quite manage to get the filling evenly distributed but with a little practise I think we’ll be popping out Splice knock-offs in no time.

This pretty lady is melted dark chocolate that we drizzled in a failed attempt to make moo-cow type spots. We then added pink Quick. Not sure if Quick is in other countries – I presume so but just in case it goes under another name, it’s  just strawberry milk.

Anyhoo, she looks less like a spotty cow hide and more like a  freaky, icy Lego head. But let me assure you, she was delicious! So never judge a popsicle by its appearance. You’re better than that. And yes, I don’t know why I didn’t go into computer graphic design either.

We have so many ideas up our sleeve to try: watermelon daiquiri pops, gin and tonic pops and almond milk/dehydrated raspberry pops just to name a few. I find myself looking at everything in a new light ie, can I liquidize this and freeze it in the Zoku. It’s a fun way to look at the world.

I can’t wait to do this at a summer dinner party. If you make pops in advance and wrap them in a sheet of baking paper and then put them in a zip lock bag in the freezer they keep pretty well. So you could make however many you need in advance minus three but then whip out the Zoku after dinner and pour in a fabulous mixture and let them set before your guests eyes! Then quietly remove the others you’ve  made beforehand  from the freezer and pass them out to your second-tier guests.  Well, what do your family expect? Just-made icey-poles? Demanding.

By the way, I should mention that I have absolutely no connection to Zoku and haven’t received a cent to say any of this. I simply love it. In a platonic way. Just to reiterate.