Did you ever make a recipe that you knew would be delicious well before it was completed? For me, this is that type of recipe. Once I whisked together all the ingredients, I took a quick taste and it was so rich, creamy, and sweet that I knew it would be a hit. Add to this the spicy flavor of chai tea with chopped walnuts, vanilla and cranberries, all I can say is YUM!

I watched the first episode of Aarti’s Party on Food Network and I really like her even if she isn’t veg. On her first episode she made Creamy Pistachio Pops which looked really good. So I stole the recipe but made some changes to it. The original recipe is listed below.

First of all, I have no trays to make popsicles so this went right into a large bowl. Second, this recipe is so easy and no ice cream maker is needed. This doesn’t quite fit into my new light and healthy venue but it is homemade and has so few ingredients and no added sugar, so how bad can it be? Ok, so heavy cream isn’t quite light but it’s a treat and will be eaten in moderation.

I love anything chai. I made this recipe using decaf chai teabags because I haven’t had caffeine in about 5 years now. For those of you who are addicted and would like to get over caffeine, it takes about 3 days. The first day I had a massive headache, the second day was less, the third was even less of a headache and after that I was fine. Overall, I reduced headaches by about 90% just by kicking the habit!

I’m not sure why but the original recipe has you opening the teabags into the hot milk and then straining it out. That’s too much work for me and I really can’t figure out why you’d go to the bother. I just put the teabags right into the milk, heated and then drained the liquid from the teabags. Much easier.

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

4 Chai tea bags

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (cinnamon will do)

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 teaspoon vanilla

Handful finely chopped walnuts

Directions

Heat the evaporated milk in a saucepan with the teabags and bring to a light boil

Add the cardamom, vanilla, and cranberries turn heat off and cover for 20 minutes

Remove the teabags and press between 2 spoons to drain all liquid back into the pot

Add the tea mixture in a bowl with condensed milk and heavy cream and whisk well

Add the walnuts and give another good whisk

Cover bowl and place in freezer, or pour into a popsicle tray and freeze

Garnish with more chopped nuts before serving if desired

My inspiration for this recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/creamy-pistachio-pops-recipe/index.html

Peace, love, & greens, Lin