Is this the seventh day of the heat wave? We’ve lost count. But we’re glad to have this recipe created by Debi Mazar & Gabriele Corcos, hosts of the Cooking Channel show, Extra Virgin.

They whipped up a coffee-themed ice pop using Lavazza, Italy’s beloved coffee brand. They used the Lavazza Qualità Rossa variety, made with African beans that have a natural chocolate aroma—perfect for a mocha popsicle. If you like strong coffee, you can use espresso.

Then, instead of after-dinner coffee, you can enjoy your coffee and your dessert in on a stick.

Debi and Gabriele also follow our own favorite practice of freezing leftover coffee in ice cube trays. “In summer we never toss whatever coffee is left in our pot,” says Debi. “Rather, we keep filling ice cube trays with it to make ‘espresso iced cubes!’ Add two or three cubes to a half glass of cold milk on a hot summer morning to get going.”

Cool down with a homemade mocha ice pop. Photo courtesy Lavazza.

CREAMY MOCHA ICE POPS RECIPE

Preparation time 15 minutes, refrigerator/freezer time 6 hours.

Ingredients For 10 Popsicles

 
Plus

Preparation

1. MIX together sugar, coffee and water in a saucepan mix; bring to a boil. Let simmer for 4 minutes, stirring continuously. Filter using cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel.

2. MIX the chocolate and hot coffee syrup in a bowl; stir until completely melted. Let cool; then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before proceeding to next step.

3. MIX together heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer, whip lightly to soft peaks. Add the cream to the cold coffee syrup and mix gently so the cream does not loose volume. Pour the mixture into the ice pop molds and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours.

Use your favorite juices and other beverages (coffee, tea, kefir, smoothies) or fresh fruit purées to make the ice pops of your dreams. For gourmet touch, add fresh herbs like basil or rosemary. Like heat? Add chipotle, jalapeño or hot sauce. Check out these recipes:

 
ICE POP VS. POPSICLE

Popsicle© is the trademarked brand of the Unilever Company, which also owns Good Humor and other brands. Legally, everything else must be called something generic, such as ice pop. (Here’s the history of the Popsicle and Creamsicle.)

While the Unilever legal team can’t spend all day chasing down every recipe called “Popsicle,” no one else can sell a product called Popsicle. They’ll have to invent their own name, as Popsicle inventor Frank Epperson did, way back in 1923.
  

Pesto Parmesan Potato Stacks, a fun side dish from PotatoGoodness.com, simply tosses thinly sliced potato rounds in a bowl with Parmesan and pesto. You stack them in a muffin tin, bake and voilà! The Parmesan melts into the potatoes: Delicious!

Kids can help with the stacking and they’ll love peeling apart the layers while eating the delicious results. Alternatively, you can vary the flavors, layering the potatoes with everything from garlic and olive oil to mozzarella and marinara (see recipes below).

Prep time 5 minutes, cook time 25 minutes.

RECIPE: PESTO PARMESAN POTATO STACKS

Ingredients For 6 Servings

Stack and bake for a fun side dish. Photo courtesy PotatoGoodness.com.

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT oven to 400°F; spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Peel the potatoes if desired, and thinly slice them by hand or with a mandolin or food processor fitted with slicer blade, discarding rounded ends.

2 PLACE the potatoes in mixing bowl; add remaining ingredients and mix well with a spoon, separating the potato slices so that all are evenly coated with the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. STACK slices in the prepared muffin tin until they reach the top of the cup, beginning with smaller potato pieces at the bottom. Scrape the bowl to remove all remaining cheese mixture and spoon over potatoes.

4. BAKE for 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife.

Ingredients

 
Follow the preparation instructions above.

ITALIAN POTATO STACKS

Ingredients

 
Follow the preparation instructions above.
 
ABOUT YUKON GOLD POTATOES

Yukon Golds are “gourmet potatoes” that have become a favorite of chefs for their delicious, buttery-rich flavor. They get their name from their golden skin and yellow flesh.

The variety was developed at the Ontario Agriculture College at the University of Guelph, Canada, in the 1960s. That’s not exactly near the Yukon territory (which is on the other side of the country, abutting Alaska), but the developers did strike gold!
  

If you’re like most people, you’d say “ice cream” or “sundae.”

But beyond an ice cream topping, caramel is a pretty universal dessert sauce.

 
Have other suggestions? Let us know.

A classic: brownie sundae with caramel sauce. Photo courtesy Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties.

Our Top Pick Of The Week is Spoonable Caramel, an artisan producer in Brooklyn, New York, that makes luscious, buttery caramel sauce in six flavors:

 
They’ll be a hit at home and a memorable gift.

Read the full review.

Check out the different types of dessert sauces in our Dessert Sauce Glossary.

Find more of our favorite gourmet dessert sauces.

This one is very easy and for hot summer days; it requires no cooking. Fresh tuna is marinated lightly and served with “seasoned avocado sauce,” i.e., guacamole.

RECIPE: TUNA SASHIMI HORS D’OEUVRES

Ingredients

Preparation

1. CUT tuna into a small dice and marinate in vinaigrette for 20 minutes or longer. Drain well and fill Tostitos Scoops.

2. TOP with guacamole, garnish with fresh herbs. Serve immediately. Delicious with beer, wine or iced tea.
TIP: Instead of preparing extra “scoops” to refill the tray, wait until you need them to fill the Scoops. Otherwise, they may lose their crunch.

The original macarons date to 15th-century Italy (see the history of macarons).

The modern version evolved at the beginning of the 20th century, when Pierre Desfontaines Ladurée had the idea to join two meringues and fill them with ganache.

The fillings evolved to include buttercream or jam, and there is now a seemingly limitless array of colors and flavors.

What’s next?

How about macarons on a stick, dipped in chocolate and optionally in decorations—chocolate bits, dragées, sprinkles, and so on.

That’s what Chef Olivier has done at Mille-Feuille Bakery in New York City’s Greenwich Village.

Macarons are pretty pricey; most of us are not likely to end up with so many extras that we need to find more ways to enjoy them. But if you are so fortunate, get the sticks, melt the chocolate, and go to town!

The chocolate coating will help to extend the freshness of macarons. Or, you can freeze them. As a general rule of thumb:

 
Food on a stick even has its own holiday: March 28th is National Something On A Stick Day. And for more food on a stick, July 11th is National State Fair Food Day.

Below:

>10 food-on-a-stick recipes.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> 20 more foods to eat on a stick.

> The history of macarons.

 
 
10 MORE FOOD ON A STICK RECIPES

[2] Instead of dipping in chocolate, how about just a little chocolate to adhere the decorations?

[3] Watermelon on a stick affords neater bites (photo © South Fork And Spoon | Bridgehampton, NY [now closed]).

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