Coconut Palette (Popsicles)

A coconut “palette” (pronounced pah-lit in Trinidad) reminds me of childhood days in Trinidad. I grew up enjoying this home made coconut treat which was usually wrapped in a very thin parchment-paper-like wrapper. Strangely, I could vividly remember the scent of the wrapping—even more than the palette itself.

The hypnotic ding ding of the palette man’s bicycle bells always provoked an instantaneous smile. Everyone (my sisters and me) would dash out of the crevices and head for the road side, shout repeatedly in our loudest voice, “stop, stop, st-o-o-o-o-p!” and frantically race back into the house to scramble spare change, usually from our daddy’s pockets, hoping to gather enough money to exchange for happiness wrapped in wax paper.  I remember the two most popular varieties were coconut and peanut.

Palette, as we refer to these cold, refreshing treats in Trinidad, or “Likka Sticks”–a popular commercial brand are also known around the world as ice pops, popsicles(US), paletas(Mexicans), granitas and gelatos(Italians), Kulfis(Indians) and mochi by the Japanese.

I wanted to develop a recipe on my own but summer may come and go and I would not have a recipe to share with you. I found this recipe on Epicurious which I really like because it involves making the coconut milk from scratch, just the way I would have done—had I attempted. Recipes like this are rare.  The recipe is very similar to coconut ice cream but much simpler to make and they don’t melt as quickly!

My little munster didn’t leave my side for the entire time with the incessant “angelic” inquisition, “is it done yet, Mummy?”. Here she is seen using the measuring spoon to scoop out a taste…..or two…or three…My camera was set on the tripod and was lucky to get this shot. She looked up when she heard the click of the camera and I looked away quickly so as not to spoil her moment…..she thinks her Mummy didn’t know what was happening….and I didn’t stop her since I wasn’t preparing this for company and these are the moments she will treasure when she’s all grown up…her good ole days…..plus I love her so so much……

Seven hours after I placed the “palettes” in the freezer it still wasn’t frozen. Why, you ask? My kids opened the freezer and checked it umpteen times…and their dad did the same…I don’t know who was more excited…

That Sunday night around 9:20 pm, I heard my husband call the kids downstairs to the kitchen for dessert(what kinda parent does stuff like this)…I evaluated the situation instantly. He was so eager to try the palettes, he used the kids as his excuse…..A few minutes later I followed to see what they were up to….there they were eating hot brownies (who makes brownies for their kids at 9 pm at night? [me] :-)….) and scooping out the “palette” with the back of a spoon…

Me: What are you doing, it’s not ready!
Hubbie: It’s ice cream…[ and continued eating..]
Me: No, it’s not….!
Hubbie: It tastes like it..
Me: Gimme some…!

..and so we all ate hot brownies and popsicle-palette-ice cream…..or whatever it was….A perfect end to a wonderful weekend…..


Hope you have better luck waiting for it to freeze……


Coconut Palette (popsicles)
Makes 10-12

2 cups fresh coconut milk
3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar, or to taste (I used raw brown sugar)**
1 (3 inch) piece of cinnamon
Dash vanilla (optional)

**Sugar may be substituted with condensed milk, but I used sugar because it contains less calories which means I can enjoy this treat with a little less guilt.

1. Make fresh coconut milk using my instructions here.  

2. Pour the strained coconut milk in a large saucepan, then stir in the milk, sugar, (vanilla, if using) and cinnamon, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. 

3. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Keep in mind that the sweetness will diminish as the mixture cools off, taste and add more sugar if you like. 


4. Let cool to room temperature, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

5. If using conventional molds, pour the mixture into the molds, snap on the lid, and freeze until solid, about 5 hours.  If using glasses or other unconventional molds, freeze until the pops are beginning to set (1 1/2 to 2 hours), then insert the sticks and freeze until solid, 4 to 5 hours.

Happy 50th Independence Day to sweet Trinidad and Tobago and Happy Labor Day weekend to the Americans….also wishing all students, teachers and parents a super productive, sane, happy (try) and safe school term…May God grant us all the serenity….

With love and best wishes,
Ria