Dark Chocolate Fudgesicles

Looking back to my childhood, I remember our freezer being well stocked with frozen desserts, especially in the summer time. Some were great (gotta love a classic ice cream sandwich), some were not so much (anything with nuts – WHY?!) but my ultimate favorite was fudgesicles. Because, let’s face it – you just can’t go wrong with a silky smooth frozen bar of chocolate awesomeness.

I’m sure if you handed me one right now, I wouldn’t hesitate to make it disappear. But even though you can’t go wrong with the classic, I do think it can be improved upon. As with pretty much everything else, the homemade version is simply better. The dark chocolate is slightly less sweet and more intense. I added a healthy dose of fleur de sel, which pairs beautifully with dark chocolate. My only problem now is trying to stop at just one.

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 10-15 minutes
Yield about 10 popsicles*

Ingredients

¼ cup (1½ oz.) finely chopped dark chocolate
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2½ cups milk (whole milk preferred)
½ tsp. coarse sea salt, such as fleur de del
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

01
In a medium saucepan, heat the chopped chocolate over low heat just until melted, stirring often to prevent burning. Add the sugar, cornstarch and cocoa powder to the pan and mix briefly with the melted chocolate. (The mixture will be crumbly at this point.) Gradually whisk in the milk a bit at a time until it is fully incorporated and the mixture is mostly smooth.
02
Increase the heat to medium-high. Continue to cook until the mixture, stirring frequently, until it thickens, about 5-10 minutes. Once the mixture has thickened, remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the salt, vanilla, and butter until smooth and fully incorporated. Let the mixture cool slightly before pouring into popsicle molds. (This is the popsicle mold I use. I love it!) Insert popsicle sticks* and freeze until fully set, at least a few hours. Unmold and enjoy!
03
*Using popsicle sticks that don’t fit the mold you have? No problem. Cover the mold(s) with foil instead of the usual lid, make a very small slit where you want the popsicle stick to go, and slide the stick in. The foil will help hold it in place in lieu of the cover. See the strawberry yogurt pop post for a visual.

Source

slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen