Blackberry-Lemon Frozen Cheesecake Pops

Love blackberries; hate those pesky seeds. I can deal with them if I must, but I would rather just have the flavor of blackberries without the hard-to-chew roughage. Pickiness comes in to play with cheesecake, too. I like vegan cheesecake, and I like it very plain. But with these pops, all of my silly preferences flew out the window. The marbled effect makes them look more painstaking than they actually are, and it takes no time at all to cook a bunch of the blackberry syrup in order to have extra on hand for adding to lemonade.

Blackberry-Lemon Frozen Cheesecake Pops

Blackberry Syrup

1 pint blackberries

juice of one lemon

1/3 cup cane sugar

Simmer berries along with lemon juice and sugar. Stir often to break them down. When they are broken and syrupy, let them cool. Run it all through a food mill or a fine mesh strainer to catch the seeds. Set aside.

Lemon-Cheesecake Base

1 4-ounce container of Greek yogurt

1 tbsp. neufchatel cheese

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp. whipping cream

1/4 cup honey

zest from one lemon

1/4 cup cane sugar

pinch of sea salt

small bamboo skewers (optional)

Whisk all ingredients together well. As soon as that's completed, tilt the bowl and spoon in a couple of spoonfuls of blackberry syrup; pour it into the molds while helping it to marble by swirling your spoon around a little bit. (Mine set up in a $1 silicone mold found here. They're honestly better for this kind of thing rather than for ice.) Freeze for 1-2 hours. You can eat the cheesecake bites like bon-bons or pierce them with bamboo skewers for pops.