A homemade take on the New Zealand Childhood favourite Jelly Tips - the top of ice cream pops are filled with jelly before being topped up with creamy vanilla bean ice cream, then dipped in a dark chocolate topping.

Confession time. I made these last year. As in, I tested the recipe a few times, made them, styled them, shot them, edited the photos, exported to my computer, drafted the recipe, and then didn't post them because I never got around to it, and suddenly it was cold. And then I totally forgot about them, until yesterday when I was flicking through my computer grabbing some photos for a project and stumbled across a little folder of goodness deep in my hard drive. And i'm not going to lie, I was pretty stoked - a) because the photos look ok ish (i've found old folders of photos before and just deleted on the spot and remade) and b) because it's been an entire week that the gas has been turned off in our building, so neither the stove or the baking part of the oven works, and i'm getting close to cutting someone. I just bought a little hotplate so we can make pasta, and I have a little toaster oven, but I'm not very impressed at all. Here's hoping it gets fixed, and in the mean time you can have last years jelly tip recipe!

These are based on an ice block (ice cream pop) I grew up on / still eat whenever i'm home - the jelly tip! The concept is very simple - it's literally a jelly tipped ice cream, dipped in chocolate. It's the best thing ever. There have been a bunch of jelly tip inspired ice creams, chocolate, and trashy shots when I was at university, but nothing compares to the real deal.

These homemade versions are super easy to make, and perfect for this summer! All you have to do is make some jelly (jello for americans) with half the amount of water that you usually would. You then fill up your popsicle moulds (we spell moulds / molds different too haha) a third of the way with this mixture, stick the stick in, and freeze. The jelly is then topped off with a creamy vanilla bean ice cream - you could definitely use store bought here and re-freeze, but making your own ice cream is much easier than it looks, and extra delicious. Once they are nice and frozen, the whole thing is dipped in a chocolate magic shell situation, which hardens into a crispy, thin shell that shatters when you bite into it. The whole thing then goes back into the freezer until you are ready to serve. These would be perfect to bring out of the freezer as a dessert to finish off a summer bbq, or perfect at a party! Secret popsicles in the freezer is one of my favourite things to do if we have people over - all the work is done beforehand, you just have to hand them out when you're ready to serve!

A few wee tips:

I used Raspberry 'jello' for this recipe - I think that most packets of jelly will work, just make sure that you make it with half the amount of water required so it freezes without being too icy. The real jelly tips had a slightly bouncy texture - probably from a specially formulated recipe, but this works just as well!
You're going to have some ice cream leftover - store in a covered container in the freezer.
I made 6 pops, because that's how many popsicle moulds I had, but you will have some ice cream left over if you only make 6. Either you can make more pops if you have more moulds (you may need another packet of jelly), or you can just transfer the extra ice cream into a container and freeze for another time.
The recipe for the chocolate shell makes quite a lot - the reason for this is that you need to have enough of it to dip the ice creams into it completely. I put it in a narrow mason jar (make sure the ice cream pop will fit in), so that when I dipped in the ice cream pop, it displaced the chocolate shell enough to cover the whole pop nicely. You can keep the extra in the jar and re-heat when needed to serve as chocolate shell on your leftover ice cream 😉
I made the jelly, poured into the moulds, froze, then made the anglaise and left to cool. A few hours later, once the anglaise was cool and the jelly was frozen, I churned the ice cream and added to the moulds. They were left to freeze overnight, then unmoulded, briefly re-frozen and dipped the next day. You can make the anglaise the day before you start if you like! Just make sure you allow enough time for the different components to freeze.
I use this popsicle mold. It's a little expensive, but so worth it when it comes to getting them out of the mold. So much easier to use, and the little lids help suspend the sticks perfectly in the ice cream.

Made this recipe and love it?

If you made this recipe then I would LOVE for you to leave me a review below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram if you make it!

A note on salt and oven temperature

It is important to note the type of salt that is called for in a recipe. I use Diamond Crystal salt throughout my recipes - if you use a different sort of kosher salt or regular table salt you will need to adjust accordingly as some salt is 'saltier' than others. Morton's salt is twice as salty, so you will need half the quantity. Same goes for a regular table salt. I am working to get gram measurements throughout my recipes for salt but still getting there.

All oven temperatures are conventional unless otherwise stated. If you are baking on fan / convection, you will need to adjust the temperature. An oven thermometer is a great investment to ensure that your oven is the correct temperature.

Using the double / triple function in the recipe card

You will notice that there is a '1X' '2X' '3X' button in my recipe card. This can be used for doubling or tripling a recipe. However, please note that this only doubles the ingredient quantities in the ingredients list and NOT in the method. If there are quantities or pan sizes in the method of the recipe (for example weigh out 150g brown butter), you will need to scale this number manually. It will also not change the baking time in the recipe so you will need to adjust this yourself too. It is always a good idea to read through a recipe fully before doubling it just to check this. If you would like to scale this recipe or convert for another pan size, use my calculator!

Tools and equipment

For a list of my go-to tools and equipment, I have a post you can refer to here.

Why is this recipe in grams?

I post my recipes in grams as it is the most accurate way to bake. Cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide. There is no way for me to provide one cup measure that works for everyone. However, posting in weight fixes this issue. If you would like the recipe in cups you are welcome to convert it yourself via google, but please do not ask me to do it for you as I am not comfortable providing a recipe using a method that I have not tested. Baking with a scale is easy, accurate, and also makes cleanup super simple. Here is the scale that I use if you would like a recommendation! Here's to accurate baking!