Recipe: Sweet Indian Kulfi Popsicles to Keep You Cool

As the summer begins to heat up and the berries come into season, it's time to dust off the ice cream maker that's been hiding in the back of your cupboards—or become envious of those who have such contraptions. While we're big fans of whipping up a batch of classic strawberry scoops, it's sometimes fun to mix things up a bit. International icy treats like Spago's new Indian ice cream pops called kulfi really get us excited. And all you need are some popsicle molds to make them at home.

Pastry chef Della Gossett just introduced them onto the menu at Wolfgang Puck's Beverly Hills restaurant last week. The kulfi are part of Spago's new bar bites program, which features delightfully affordable dishes like Chinese bincho short ribs inside perfectly steamed bao buns; crackly sweet and sour pork belly with black bean vinegar; and a surprisingly good American wagyu pastrami on rye, which will impress even the Langer's purists in town. What's best about the new menu, of course, is that you can grab a craft cocktail and a bite at Spago and be out of there for under $30—much less than the rent check you'd have to spend to dine there otherwise. And when you top that off with a delightful, creamy dessert that features seasonal produce, it's a major slam dunk.

Here's how it's done:

Vanilla Bean Kulfi with Market Strawberries, Candied Almonds and Thai Basil syrup

Executive Pastry Chef Della Gossett

Ingredients:

10 cups heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
2 vanilla beans, scraped
¼ tsp salt

Method:

Pour cream, milk and sugar into a large pot. Add scraped vanilla bean seeds and pods, then bring cream mixture to a boil.

After the boil, turn down heat and continue to cook and reduce liquid until reduced to approximately two-thirds the original amount.

Add salt. Strain through a fine strainer.

Chill the kulfi mixture and pour directly into ice cream pop molds. Garnish with fresh strawberries, candied almonds or pistachios and Thai basil simple syrup. (To make this, add Thai basil to your basic simple syrup.) Freeze overnight.

Pop out of molds and enjoy!