I haven’t been doing a whole lot of anything these days. The month of June was seemingly pulled out from under me in a blur of sleepy days, a nasty summer cold, and… hmm… *scratches head*…I don’t remember what else.

I have been to the farmers market every week – that I remember. This activity facilitated eating my weight in berries in the past two weeks.

Local berries make me a bit crazy. I get into a full-tilt panic about how short the season is, scouring blogs, magazines and cookbooks for new, interesting recipes – making a plan for all the pies-crumbles-buckles-crisps-sorbets etc. to try, until I’m so overwhelmed by my giant to-make list that I throw in the towel and just cram as many as possible down my throat.

Last week, however, I bought five pints of sun-warmed berries, bursting with juiciness at their absolute gorgeous peak – more than I could reasonably gulp down in the 2 days it takes them to go past their prime. So I put my new popsicle moulds to work! (Oh yea… the other thing I have been doing these days is sleep-shopping, during late-night feeds… there’s trouble with a capital T for you).

This is one sleep-shop that I don’t regret (don’t ask me how I feel about the $300 I sleep-shopped at Anthropologie.com the previous night… oops!). I LOVE MY POP MOULDS. I have a gazillian ideas for them. This could totally become a popsicle blog.

These popsicles are a swirl of tart, tangy-sweet yogurt and fresh raspberry puree, with a squeeze of lime. They take about 5 minutes to make, and they are SO YUMMY. And healthy. And pretty! Win-win-win.

I love the flavour of plain, whole milk yogurt, lightly sweetened with a spoonful of sugar. The fat adds body and cuts the tartness of natural yogurt. I despise fat-free. Don’t go there with these pops – they’ll be icy and sour.

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1/4 cup + 6 tbsp granulated sugar (approximate), divided
• 2 cups blackberries
• 1 tbsp lime juice (from 1 small lime)

Preparation

1. Combine yogurt and 1/4 cup sugar in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. Taste it for sweetness, adding more to your liking. Transfer mixture to a bowl – if you find it slightly grainy, let it chill in refrigerator for 1 hour until sugar is totally dissolved.
2. Rinse the blender, then add the blackberries, lime juice and 4 tablespoons of the sugar. Blend until pureed, taste, and add up to 2 tablespoons more sugar if needed. Force the berry puree through a fine-mesh sieve into a second bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much as possible.
3. Alternating spoonfuls of the yogurt mixture and blackberry puree, fill the popsicle moulds, leaving about 1/2 inch of headspace to allow the pops to expand as they freeze. Use a skewer or a paring knife to dip down into each pop and swirl a bit. Insert sticks and transfer to freezer; freeze 4 hours or more before serving.