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A recipe for Neapolitan ice cream popsicles featuring homemade vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream layered in a silicone popsicle mold. The best ice cream pops for summertime!
Why Make This Neapolitan Ice Cream Popsicle Recipe?
Neapolitan ice cream traditionally consists of three separate ice cream flavors (vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry) layered side-by-side in a single container, or sometimes in individually wrapped blocks. Neapolitan ice cream bears a resemblance to Italian spumone, and was introduced to the United States in the 1870s by Neapolitan immigrants.
My Neapolitan ice cream popsicle recipe features the three classic Neapolitan flavors, layered in a silicone mold and finished with a wooden stick for an easy-to-eat popsicle. No ice cream scoop (and no churning!) required.
Ingredients for Making Vanilla Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream Pops
To make this ice cream popsicle recipe, start by gathering the following ingredients:
- Fresh Strawberries – Fresh, flavorful strawberries work best for this popsicle recipe. You’ll need 90 grams (about 3/4 cup) of washed, hulled, and diced strawberries.
- Granulated Sugar – Granulated sugar adds sweetness to the ice cream. You’ll also need granulated sugar to macerate the fresh strawberries.
- Lemon Juice – For macerating the strawberries.
- Whole Milk – For maximum creaminess, use for whole milk for the ice cream base, rather than skimmed.
- Whipping Cream – Or heavy cream, in the US. Look for a milk fat percentage around 35-36%.
- Vanilla Bean Paste – Nielsen-Massey makes my favorite vanilla bean paste.
- Kosher Salt – A small amount kosher salt balances out the ice cream’s sweeter notes.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Whisk in regular unsweetened cocoa powder, not Dutch processed, to make the chocolate ice cream layer.
Ice Cream Popsicle Tools and Equipment
For this ice cream popsicle recipe, I recommend a few special tools:
- Funnel, Piping Bag, or Spouted Measuring Cup – You’ll need a spouted meaasuring cup, a funnel, or a disposable piping bag to fill the mold cavities.
- Silicone Popsicle Mold – There are many different popsicle mold styles available. For this recipe, you’ll want to select a mold designed for full-size (4-5 inch) popsicles, rather than “mini” pops.
- Popsicle Sticks – Wooden popsicle sticks can be purchased from Amazon, or a craft supply store.
- Blender or Food Processor – To purée the strawberries. If you don’t have a blender or a food processor, or want to take an easy shortcut, you can use a store-bought strawberry purée instead.
- Kitchen Scale – For weighing the ice cream mixture into separate portions. Accuracy is important here, so I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the layers by weight rather than volume.
- Hair Dryer – Yes, a hair dryer! Quick bursts of hot air from a hair dryer (set on low temperature) warms the silicone mold just enough to allow the frozen popsicles to slide from the cavities with ease.
Neapolitan Popsicle Tips and Tricks
Clean up for pretty pops. After pouring each layer, use a cotton swab (or wrap a small piece of paper towel/kitchen roll around your fingertip) to remove drips and splashes from the inside of each mold cavity.
Choose silicone molds. The flexibility of soft silicone makes it easy to remove the frozen pops. Hard plastic and metal popsicle molds are not quite so user-friendly.
Be patient. While simple to make, this popsicle recipe does require several hours of passive time, so be sure to plan ahead. You’ll need to allow about 30 minutes for each ice cream flavor to freeze before adding the next one, or they’ll mix together rather than forming three distinct layers. After adding the layers, allow the pops to freeze overnight before un-molding.
Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions
Plan ahead! This recipe requires about 30 minutes of freezing time between each ice cream layer, and another 12 hours to allow to popsicles to freeze in the molds.
Enjoy Neapolitan ice cream popsicles immediately. To save for later, wrap popsicles individually in parchment and place in plastic food storage bags, or layer between sheets of parchment and freeze in an airtight container. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Other ice cream recipes you might enjoy:
Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cupcakes
Maple Ice Cream
Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream
Peanut Butter Ice Cream
For another Neapolitan-inspired recipe, try my Neapolitan Butter Cookies, too!
And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
Neapolitan Ice Cream Popsicles
- Total Time: 40 minutes (+ freezing time)
- Yield: 6 popsicles 1x
Description
A recipe for Neapolitan ice cream popsicles featuring homemade vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream layered in a silicone popsicle mold.
Ingredients
90 grams hulled and diced fresh strawberries (3/4 cup diced berries)
150 grams graulated sugar (3/4 cup), divided
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
320 milliliters whole milk (1 1/3 cups)
160 milliliters whipping cream (2/3 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Pinch kosher salt
25 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (1/4 cup)
Instructions
In a small bowl, toss strawberries with 30 grams (2 tablespoons) of granulated sugar and lemon juice. Set aside and allow to macerate until thick and syrupy, about 10-15 minutes.
Spoon macerated strawberries into a blender or food processor and purée until smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk together milk, cream, remaining sugar, vanilla bean paste, and kosher salt.
With a kitchen scale, weigh mixture into two 220-gram portions and one 150-gram portion.
Into the 150-gram portion, whisk the puréed strawberries.
Whisk the cocoa powder into one of the 220-gram portions.
Refrigerate strawberry and vanilla mixtures until ready to use. Transfer chocolate mixture to a spouted measuring cup or piping bag.
Fill each mold cavity about 1/3 of the way full. Freeze mold for about 30 minutes, or until chocolate layer is firm on top but not frozen solid.
Repeat with strawberry mixture.
Repeat with vanilla mixture. Don’t worry if you see some minimal swirling of the layers at this stage.
Add popsicle sticks. Freeze mold until solid, at least 12 hours, or overnight.
To remove, use a hair dryer to gently warm the outside of the silicone mold. Pull ice cream popsicles from the mold cavities.
Serve ice cream popsicles immediately. To save for later, wrap popsicles individually in parchment and place in plastic food storage bags, or layer between sheets of parchment and freeze in an airtight container. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Freezing Time: 90 minutes (layers) + 12 hours (popsicles)
- Category: Ice Cream
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Dessert
