The temperature in Manila has been unbearably hot during the past week or two. On some days, it feels like well over 100 F or 40 C, and even the airconditioners are straining to cool it down a little. So it seemed like a perfect time to make some fruit based ice candy with the langka (jackfruit) that we still had in the freezer. Fruit based ice candy is a classic summer time treat across the Philippine archipelago. When several tropical fruits are ripening almost all at the same time in the sweltering heat, and you have fruit flavor and sugars up the wazoo, it’s time to make ice candy. Our cook, Jane, made these yesterday and they tasted fantastic. She put roughly 1 kilo or more of langka into a food processor or blender (chop coarsely before putting into a blender unless you have a heavy duty one), a can of condensed milk and a little water if the mixture is just way too thick to pour. Pour these into little plastic ice candy bags and knot them firmly. Place in a freezer until nice and hard, in this case, it took overnight.
Once frozen, take one out of the freezer, tear open the plastic bag and start to munch. These ice candies weren’t too icy at all since they 
were chockfull of real fruit and had very little added water. Creamy, sweet and redolent with langka essence and bits, these were utterly delicious! My mom used to make these with avocados (albeit in those fancy-ish molds) and you can also use ripe mangoes as well. I suspect ripe strawberries would make good fruit-sicles as well! I asked the cook, Jane, how much these might be sold for on the street and she said just PHP3-5, but the commercially sold ones would have a lot of water mixed in. When you eat yours, just make sure you don’t eat any of the plastic bag that tends to tear if you get too rough with your ice candy…
33 Responses
i miss this.
Thumbs up for Jane’s ingenious idea to beat the heat and very refreshing too. Way to go Jane! Ice candy is ours and granita is to Italians born of the same concept. Must have been a gigantic langka you picked up and already gave some to your staffs.
hmmm langka ice candy. . . i’ll try it when i get back in Phil.
Ay I love ice candy lalo na kapag buco salad ice candy, mongo ice candy and ube ice candy. Yum, yum yum!!!!
women I know here in our province bought their refrigerators basically for ice candies for children and “yelo” for the men. Sideline eka nga. Oftentimes too because of the cost of commercial milk they opt to squeeze fresh gata from coconuts. I think it’s very healthy although they apologize because it’s so “low class” :-). And I my husband were given one such and it tasted delicious! Of all flavors, I like langka for ice candy the most!
Oh my, sounds very very yummy! What an ingenious way with langka! I love the fruit as it is and when it’s frozen too. But I’m gonna try this one with my blender. It’s heavy duty as it can crush ice. Hmmm…jackfruit shake(instead of condensed , maybe fresh milk or evap)???
love the condensed milk idea and this will be one of my “must do”list. Salamat,MM!
Our cook… tasted fantastic. Sorry, MM, I couldn’t help myself. :-)
TOPING, haha, obviously, I need an editor…have changed that…
oooh.. it’s ice candy!
miss ko na yan!
hahaha!! nice editing from toping…
miss ice candy.. especially in this weather…yummy!
yummy. I’m thinkin buko and buko juice would be super yummy too in the same fashion. my aunt would make buko sorbet during special occasions, in the old fashion ice cream making contraption operated by at least two men. I wonder if langka sorbet can be made in that thing? yummy.
sarap! Pati din ung avocado and buko ice candy!
Thanks for the suggestions. I will make buko and melon ice candies! Yummmm……
ice candy are definitely part of my childhood..every summer, i would put up a sign by our gate that says “ice candy for sale – 75 cents”…that was probably 15 years ago…i didn’t mind the process that i have to go through just to make the ice candy, it’s definitely all worth it! that’s my way of making my own money during summer months! Speaking of ice candy…i have to search my cupboard coz i remember i bought a few packs of the “plastic” so i can make ice candy up here. I’m so excited to make ice candy now for my daughter! :)
MM, you just made me feel 10 again! I remember when my mom bought those popsicle bags and we made them all summer. Most of them were melon-milk flavor though. I forgot about these, thanks for that memory refresher.
my god i miss this!! i used to make milo ice candy when my siblings and i were younger =) pineapple ice candy is nice too!! yummmy!!!
Recipes anyone? Are those plastic bag tubes available in California? Maybe at the chinese or asian stores? I’d love to try these for summer bbqs! Thanks!
we used to sell pineapple ice candy. it was just del monte pineapple juice and sugar. our store closed a long time ago but people still remember the ice candy. which is weird actually since our store was a pharmacy. heheh.
I absolutely love langka and I simply adore the langka from Davao— crisp, sweet and so fragrant! Friends who go to Davao hoard the usual durian and marang while I hoard my beloved langka. I eat it cold or sometimes even frozen! My eyes twinkled when you featured langka ice candy!!! I will definitely give this a try and fall into my own langka heaven. Thanks for this wonderful post!!!
Just a minor typo, “… like well over 100 F or 40 F …”. Should it be “…it feels like well over 100 F or 40 C …”?
Happyman, thanks for that! :)
We used to make ice candies made of buko meat and sago. then we’ll sell it during recess. good thing our home is just beside our elementary school. imagine my schoolmates flocking to our home to buy! instant hit! ah! the good old days :)
We used to make ice candies made of buko meat and sago. then we’ll sell it during recess. good thing our home is just beside our elementary school. imagine my schoolmates flocking to our home to buy! instant hit! ah! the good old days :)
You’re heaven sent, I’m currently looking for a job and to earn some money we are making ice candies (easy and good source of money too, just for the summer season) at home and I was thinking of another fruit flavor since we are only serving mango and buko ice candies. It’s good that I clicked your site. I’ll try it tom., I believe it will become and instant hit!
God Bless and more power!
can u send me a recipe of this…looks so delicious…
Raquel, did you BOTHER to read the post before you asked for the recipe??? If there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s folks asking for something that is RIGHT UNDER their noses! Use your brain before you engage your fingers.
It was my very first business during my elementary days! shouting ice candy in the streets, and i sell them 25centavos each and i used to make php2.50 a day profit but sometimes i can double that too. I remember the ingredients the maker are getting, its banana saba,milk and sugar, she used to boil that banana then smash it by hands,mix it with the water and milk and ofcourse sugar.its one of the great tastes in the town during those days,some are resorting only in food coloring and sugar, they haves a dumb taste! they dont sale many anyway.When i visited my country last october 2008, i observed my mother if she is making some icecandies, no! she just makes ice water! she said, she can sell them better than icecandy and preparation is easy as just insert that celophane on the watertap, eureka you have that icedwater…
Friend,
Can you also advise me other flavor of ice candy such as mango and chocolate w/ peanuts..i think its now click to sell ice candy this summer…
im already into icecandy business im making fruit salad flavor but the problem is that it easily dissolve when taken out of the freezer,its because of the nestle cream i guess..anyone who can teach me how to make my fruitsalad icecandy last long in styro so that my vendors can reach much further places to sell.
hey your ice candy look good but i looking for the ice candy wrapper only i would like to buy it whole sale if you dont mine if you can helpme out.
i live in California.
please email me on ickckcpanchoman@yaoo.com
Wow, great for my son. He wants me to make him ice candy. But I want the ice to be very fine just like ice cream. Some uses starch like cassava or matling. Just want to ask how much starch would I put???