Make a popular Korean popsicle – Melona bar from your home! It takes less than 10 minutes to assemble! Easy & delicious!
One of my childhood favourite ice creams is Melona (메로나) – Honeydew melon ice pops. I used to buy it for 100 won (about AU$0.10). It was a very affordable and super delicious summer snack to me.
Melona was considered a uniquely flavoured ice cream when it first launched in 1992. Its slightly creamy and elegantly chewy texture was very different to any other popsicles around at that time.
Apparently, it was made to taste more like yellow melon (Korean hybrid -Chamoe,참외) rather than honeydew melon because most Koreans weren’t used to the honeydew melon taste back then. I was very surprised to find out this fact myself! (If you can read Korean, you can read about it from this news article.)
Two decades later, Melona is one of the best-selling ice cream brands in Korea, and there are a few copycat brands too. But the most famous brand is Melona (메로나) by Binggrae.
I didn’t know how popular this popsicle is around the world until I decided to make it myself. Because there was overwhelming interest on various forums on the internet to find out how to make Melona bars at home. Is it popular in your country? Have you all tasted it before?
For your information, this is a redo of my old recipe from 2013. I recently learnt how to make this popsicle creamier! (My previous recipe was quite icy, like sorbet. In case some of you may prefer sorbet style popsicles, I left my original recipe in the recipe card at the end of the post.) 😉
I hope you enjoy creating these simple Melona bars at home. It takes less than 10 minutes to put together. The hardest part is waiting 8 hours for it to freeze! Lol.
Also, this will make a great family summer holiday project! Let me know how yours turn out! Enjoy!
Ingredients for 5 to 6 small popsicles
- 1/2 cup cold heavy cream (This is suitable for whipping cream, it’s known as thickened cream in Australia, but I used “pure cream” – without any additives or thickening agents.)
- 180g/6.3 ounce ripe honeydew melon, seeded and cut into small chunks
- 1 Tbsp of honey
- (optional) 1 small drop of green food colouring
* 1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 Cup = 250 ml
How to make Melona Bar
1. Whip the cream (using an electric beater/food processor/stand mixer) until stiff peaked.
2. Blend the honeydew melon, honey and food colouring (if adding) in a blender until pureed.
3. Combine the whipped cream and the pureed honeydew melon by gently folding the cream. (Don’t whisk or stir as it will ruin the texture of the cream.) This should result in about 1 and 1/3 cup of mixture.
4. Pour the honeydew melon – cream mixture into ice pop moulds and freeze them until slushy (for about 2 hrs). Insert the ice pop sticks then return them to freeze until completely frozen (a further 6 hrs or overnight).
Note:
- Make sure you don’t over whip the cream as it can turn into butter quite easily and quickly if you don’t pay attention to the bowl while whipping.
- You may try other types of sweeteners (e.g. caster sugar, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup and honey) if that’s what you prefer. I have tried all of these combinations but honey worked the best for me for the texture and flavour wise. As an example, when I made the popsicle with sweetened condensed milk, it created a bitter tasting popsicle.
- I used a paper cup as a mould. It made it really easy to take out the popsicles as I could push from the bottom of the cup to release the popsicle. I also have tried a glass mould (e.g. shot glass), in this case, I had to dip the glass in hot water for 2 to 3 seconds to warm up the bottom end. It was then very easy to take the popsicle out.
Update:
This post was originally posted on February 11, 2013, and it is now updated with a new recipe and photographs. However, you can still access my original recipe (sorbet style) in the below recipe card.
Homemade Melona Bar (Honeydew Melon Ice Pops)
Ingredients
Creamy Popsicles
- 1/2 cup cold heavy cream , (This is suitable for whipping cream, it’s known as thickened cream in Australia, but I used “pure cream” – without any additives or thickening agents.)
- 180 g ripe honeydew melon , seeded and cut into small chunks
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 drop green food colouring , optional
Sorbet-Style Popsicles
- 1/2 ripe honeydew melon (600 g / 1.3 pounds)
- 1/4 cup cold heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp honey
Instructions
Creamy Popsicles
- Whip the cream (using an electric beater/food processor/stand mixer) until stiff peaked.
- Blend the honeydew melon, honey and food colouring (if adding) in a blender until pureed.
- Combine the whipped cream and the pureed honeydew melon by gently folding the cream. (Don’t whisk or stir as it will ruin the texture of the cream.) This should result in about 1 and 1/3 cup of mixture.
- Pour the honeydew melon - cream mixture into ice pop moulds and freeze them until slushy (for about 2 hrs). Insert the ice pop sticks then return them to freeze until completely frozen (a further 6 hrs or overnight).
Sorbet-Style Popsicles
- Pour the cream into a pot and add the honey. Boil and stir it on low medium to low heat for about 3 mins. (Stir well to dissolve the honey and not to burn the cream). Turn off the heat, set it aside and cool it down for about 5 mins.
- Cut the cleaned honeydew melon into small chunks and put them into a food processor/blender. Blend it until it turns to puree.
- Combine the cooled cream (from step 1) and the pureed melon (from step 2) in a bowl. whisk well. Pour the honeydew cream mixture into ice pop moulds and freeze it for at least 6 hours.
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
