Growing up in jamaica we didn’t have much fast food KFC, Patties, Pizza(maybe), we ate more natural foods, fresh and unprocessed. Our snacks after school were local vendors who would bring fresh fruit in the back of a van back (pickup truck).

My most vivid memory is the pineapple man. When he drove into school his van would be filled with pineapples, coconuts, oranges, and Eati Ohti Apples. The tiny-golden pineapples would be sunken in a chest of ice water and upon ordering he would fish one out peel it leaving the crown in tact turning it into a frozen pineapple pop. Nothing was sweeter on a hot Jamaican summer day than one of these delicious treats. Oh wait yes there was something better……it was Fudgiiee! Now as you read this, if you are Jamaican/Caribbean you will hear the Fudge Man’s horn blowing three times like the song that made all Fudgie men famous in Jamaica.

In Jamaica and I’m sure in the rest of the Caribbean’s Fudgie was the Ice Cream Man. They all drove small scooters with ice chests strapped on to the back of their small bikes. Inside this chest were yummy treats like Nutty Buddy, Fudgecicle, Kisko, King Kong, and grapenut Ice Cream to name a few.

One of my earliest pictures is of me, my brother and my oldest friend on my Aunt’s porch eating vanilla fudge pops, the pure joy is all over our faces. What could be better, not a care in the world but how long our pops were going to last.

This picture made me want to transport myself back in time to taste that sweet delicious fudgecicle one more time, But instead of just a plain vanilla fudgecicle I decided why not turn the classic Jamaican flavor Ice Cream Grapenut into a pop?

According to Wikipedia: Grape-Nuts is a breakfast cereal developed in 1897 by C. W. Post, a former patient and later competitor of the 19th-century breakfast food innovator, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Despite the name, the cereal contains neither grapes nor nuts; it is made with wheat and barley. I am not sure how the Ice Cream came about, but I do know that it is very popular in Jamaica.  We love to eat Devon House Ice Cream when we are in Jamaica and their Grapenut Ice Cream is divine!

For the base of the Cream Popsicle I used the recipe from: https://www.theflavorbender.com

INGREDIENTS

VANILLA POPSICLE BASE

Before you get started:  Add 1/2 Cup of Grapenuts into a bowl and pour 1 cup of milk on top of the Grapenuts.  Let stand in fridge for one hour.  Strain mixture and start directions below. You may need to add a little more milk as the grape-nuts absorb alot.

1. Place the sugar, salt and cornflour in a saucepan. Whisk to combine. Next, whisk in the milk (make sure there are no lumps of cornflour).
2. Heat the milk mix until the sugar dissolves and the milk is just under boiling point.
3. While the milk is heating, whisk the egg yolks and vanilla in a small bowl. When the milk has heated, pour about ½ a cup of the milk into the yolks (WHILE WHISKING THE YOLKS).
4. When the egg yolks have been tempered, strain it back into the milk in the saucepan, using a sieve.
5. Heat the milk-egg yolk mix on medium heat and bring it to a boil, while whisking regularly until you form a thick and pudding like custard.
6. Cover and set aside to cool.
7. When the custard has cooled, whisk the whipping cream until you get soft peaks. Add the lightly whipped cream to the cooled custard and fold it in gently until well combined – be careful not to knock out the air in the cream. Keep this in the fridge (covered) until you are ready to fill the popsicle molds. Add the 1/4 cup of grapenuts to mixture and fill molds. Place mold in the freezer for 4 to 6 hours or overnight.

Finished Product. Yummmm