Cornelius Fudge-sicles

YAY! We finally saw the Harry Potter movie! I was pretty jazzed and would love to see it 12 more times. Although, I will have to wait until Christmas when it comes out on DVD to watch it a second time.  So, instead of seeing the movie again, let's make Cornelius Fudge-sicles!

Who in the blazes is Cornelius Fudge you ask? He was the Minister for Magic, a sort of Prime Minister for the Magical Folk, for most of the series.

That's his picture up there. What a looker, eh?  Well he was about as good a Minister for Magic as he was handsome.  His failure to see what was right in front of his face caused a lot of undue damage.  Funny how the little things can bring about our down fall.  Sort of like these Fudgesicles.

Oh, they sure don't seem like much, what with only a 1/2 Tablespoon of chocolate chips and 5/8 Tablespoon of cocoa powder per popsicle. How could they possibly taste rich and fudgy?  And I made them with plain old ordinary skim milk too.  Merlin's beard, they are rich and chocolate-y as all get out.

One thing that surprised me about these pops was that they were not rock hard after spending a day or two in the freezer.  Most of the time the frozen treats I make in ice pop form are strictly lick only, unless you want to crack your jaw off, or sit in the hot sun for a while.  (I don't know about you, but I prefer to eat my frozen concoctions in the serenity of my nice air conditioned home.)

See?  Even Blockette can bit the popsicle with her slightly wobbly/loose front tooth.  She doesn't even like to take bites from her ice cream cones, so I was surprised that she chomped away at this frozen confection.

Pop on over to smitten kitchen for the recipe for fudge popsicles and make them right away. Do it! Do it Lupin!  Do it for Fred!  Do it for Dumbledore, for pity's sake!  You know they'd want you to.

(The recipe makes 4 popsicles in the Tovolo star pop molds.)

Fudge Popsicles from Smitten Kitchen
2 tablespoons  semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup  sugar
1 tablespoon  cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups whole milk
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon  unsalted butter

In the bottom of a medium saucepan over very low heat, gently melt the chocolate chips, stirring constantly until smooth. Stir in sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, milk and salt and raise heat to medium. Cook mixture, stirring frequently until it thickens, anywhere between 5 minutes (for me) and 10 (suggested in the book). Remove from heat, add vanilla and butter and stir until combined. Set aside to cool slightly then pour into popsicle molds. Freeze 30 minutes, then insert popsicle sticks. Freeze the rest of the way before serving.