Popsicles

[TAPrice]

Any advice on how to make popsicles?

I'm assuming any fruit puree can be frozen, but there has to be more to it than that.

Any hints? Any combination that were particular good?

I'm mainly making these for 1.5 year old, but I'm interested in popsicles for grownups as well.

[Lisa Shock]

If you are making the puree yourself, from scratch, remember that some fruits will discolor, so you may wish to add lemon/lime juice or vitamin C powder to retain color.

You may wish to add simple syrup to compensate for the lemon/lime's additional tartness or to boost the flavor of less than sweet store-bought fruit.

Some fruit has fiber that becomes hard and very undesirable when frozen. Apples and pears are the main offenders here. If you toss a cored apple or pear in the blender with lemon juice and a bit of simple syrup, the resulting puree will freeze and look ok, but you'll wind up with a mouth full of what feels like straw. Commercial purees of these fruits are lightly cooked to break down the fiber.

Using a juicer for apples/pears is a good solution, just remember that they discolor a lot. I like to use ascorbic acid powder for these juices.

Purees with more pulp freeze into softer, easier to eat bars, while juice makes a harder more popsicle-like bar.

And, a quick reminder about sanitation. You're probably not cooking any of the ingredients for this product, so handle everything with care. (if you were in a restaurant, you'd be wearing gloves and sanitizing containers, etc.) Make certain to wash the fruit carefully. E. Coli outbreaks (and other foodborne illness) have been caused by unwashed fruit like watermelon and strawberry.

[Tri2Cook]

In Frozen Desserts, Migoya recommends adding 50% simple syrup to achieve 16 - 19 brix for ices (12 - 15 for savory applications). I have no idea how you would calculate that without a refractometer if you don't have one but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

[Peter the eater]

Interesting topic -- I'm always freezing stuff on a stick for my kids. Right now we're into rhubarb/grapefruit.

My old college roommate worked in a Popsicle factory in southern Ontario, maybe Burlington? He related horror stories of crazy chemicals and rodent filth. Making your one is probably a good idea.

[rooftop1000]

Gee all I ever got was Orange Juice

but we did have the tupperware popsicle molds

tracey

[demiglace]

I was thinking popsicles just yesterday..I was wondering how to make a coconut one..any ideas? I have one of those plastic molds too. I remember making Kool Aid popsicles as a kid ...time for an upgrade!

[TAPrice]

I was thinking popsicles just yesterday..I was wondering how to make a coconut one..any ideas? I have one of those plastic molds too. I remember making Kool Aid popsicles as a kid ...time for an upgrade!

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No idea if this would work, but what about coconut milk and a banana puree. Would it freeze hard enough, or would you need to add water (or something with high water content)?

[demiglace]

I was thinking popsicles just yesterday..I was wondering how to make a coconut one..any ideas? I have one of those plastic molds too. I remember making Kool Aid popsicles as a kid ...time for an upgrade!

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No idea if this would work, but what about coconut milk and a banana puree. Would it freeze hard enough, or would you need to add water (or something with high water content)?

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Not really sure..will have to experiment I guess. Did you have any other flavours in mind?

[prasantrin]

I was thinking popsicles just yesterday..I was wondering how to make a coconut one..any ideas? I have one of those plastic molds too. I remember making Kool Aid popsicles as a kid ...time for an upgrade!

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There's a drink one can buy at Asian grocery stores consisting of coconut water and pieces of young coconut. There are canned versions, but there's another version that's often sold frozen.

http://www.evertake.com/pdDrink_coconut.html

is one example (Rooster/Cock makes a really good version). It's supposed to be defrosted, but we also eat it like a coconut slush.

Anyway, if you can get young coconut, save the water and scrape out all the meat. Then freeze it. You can add sugar syrup if you want.

Or just buy canned coconut water (with or without meat) and freeze it.

For daily eating, I like it better than coconut-milk versions because it's so light and refreshing.

[Tri2Cook]

I like it better than coconut-milk versions because it's so light and refreshing.

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It's an excellent sports drink as well. I sometimes put it in my water bottle with a little half salt (salt/potassium blend) for a change of pace from gatorade.

[Emily_R]

I was thinking popsicles just yesterday..I was wondering how to make a coconut one..any ideas? I have one of those plastic molds too. I remember making Kool Aid popsicles as a kid ...time for an upgrade!

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Perfect timing -- I just made this recipe for coconut popsicles and they are OUTSTANDING. Creamy, not too sweet, full of flavor... They'll be a regular staple in our freezer from now on!

http://thenoshery.com/2009/05/30/limber-de...ream-popsicles/

[demiglace]

ooh thanks all...I'll have to try both..will make some from that recipe and go out and buy the milk..should have it at the H mart.

[Kouign Aman]

I used to add gelatin to the popsicles before I froze them, when I was making them for little kids. Helps control the drip factor and melt rate.

[baroness]

I pureed fresh raspberries and added a bit of canned cream of coconut (not coconut milk). Even straight out of my -10 degree freezer, the results were tasty and of bite-able texture, not hard and icy.

[Pallee]

I just made strawberry creamsicles a couple days ago. Two parts strawberries pureed, one part simple syrup, one part cream. Delicious!

Had to buy the molds. The checkout clerk asked if I had kids. She laughed when I said no, these were for me, then proceeded to tell me her favorite rum popsicle recipes! Haven't gotten to those yet.

[helenjp]

So how are all the popsicle makers going? What are you all making?

I just found some silicone molds for cone-shaped squeeze-out stickless popsicles. Do these develop smelly taints?

I also saw a tempting book on Mexican paletas (popsicles) that looks like lots of fun.

The plan is to make unsweetened popsicles too...up to and including plain black tea or coffee, sage tea, lemon or vinegar etc, just for a cold mouthful when it's too hot for sweet stuff.

[TeakettleSlim]

I was given a Zoku popsicle maker a couple of months ago-- I haven't done anything too daring yet, but have already become a little too fond of coffee popsicles. Also made some with leftover blackberry chipotle syrup-- just mixed it with milk until it tasted right. It was good. Not as good as the coffee, though.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I was thinking popsicles just yesterday..I was wondering how to make a coconut one..any ideas? I have one of those plastic molds too. I remember making Kool Aid popsicles as a kid ...time for an upgrade!

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No idea if this would work, but what about coconut milk and a banana puree. Would it freeze hard enough, or would you need to add water (or something with high water content)?

Coconut as a popsicle works very well if you've got access to a whole coconut to puree - what you want for the popsicle is basically heavy coconut cream (the very thick, very creamy stuff) - then it freezes like a dream. In Salcedo (a little town that is the home of the best popsicles in South America), this is how they're done, with the inclusion of shredded coconut and a bit of sugar (to taste). Coconut is one of my faves, and done this way it freezes hard enough to be handleable and remains soft enough that you don't get the straw-mouthfull thing.

Banana is one of those things that discolours when frozen, and the best approach to it is simply to freeze whole or half bananas, sprinkled with lime juice, wrapped in Saran, and with a stick stuck up them. The minute you go to puree with the bananas available in North America, you'll end up with a really unappetizing brown moosh. This goes for them when added to other fruits. Even large amounts of citrus juice or Vit C doesn't help Cavendish and Gran Naine bananas - they'll still oxidize super rapidly.

On the unsweetened popsicles end, I'd say check out Maracuya (passionfruit) if you can find it, and also try doing Lavender with Mint (super-refreshing!).

[Kouign Aman]

Pureed mango w yogurt, and sugar to taste. Made excellent popsicle (mango lassi on a stick).

[Lior]

I still have some ice pop molds from tupperware! I wonder if there are new ones. WHat a nice topic! ANd for adults? WHat a great idea? I used to freeze juice for the kids but now all sorts of new ideas pop into mind-thanks! I remember when nieces and nephews stayed with us for summers and I could not keep enough ice pops. I started using plastic cups with teaspoons, re used yogurt containers, and then the kids would try to find all sorts of odd and creative containers for their special ice pop! Lovely memories!! (Here we call ice pops "Artics"!)

[Darienne]

Great timing for this thread. I was just 'gifted' with some popsicle molds but haven't quite gotten around to using them. Fany Gerson, author of Paletas (which I am going to buy) and My Sweet Mexico (which I own and LOVE) has wonderful popsicle recipes. ...not to mention all the ice cream recipes which I have already made...

OK Let's go for it ...

[FauxPas]

I like making alcoholic popsicles for the summertime.

An easy one is pomegranate juice + vodka (I've used vodka with lime or orange flavour or just add a splash of lime or tangerine juice). Here's a pic:

Or a tequila sunrise (sunset?) popsicle. I pureed strawberries and added tequila and froze that in the bottom of a mold. Once firm, I added the top layer which was pureed mango, lime juice and more tequila. This must be the worst pic I have ever taken, but I probably had too many pops that night!

I played with proportions to find out just how much alcohol I could add and still have a firm popsicle, but can't remember what worked best. I do know I add more than what is usually suggested!

Gourmet Magazine had some fun recipes a few years back. Some are here:

http://www.gourmet.com/search/query?query=popsicles&queryType=nonparsed&sort=score+desc&section=recipes&sisterSite=gourmet.com&search-recipes-submit.x=0&search-recipes-submit.y=0

I keep meaning to try the Grapefruit Campari ones. The Blue Martini is pretty cool. I think they also had a classic margarita one, but my search didn't find it. At any rate, you could use lime juice, sugar water, tequila and orange liqueur. (Or use a honeydew melon base.)

Pina Coladas would work well, many other possibilities also. What types do other people make?

[Lior]

Oh my gosh! What a como! I love both! Will make right now for dessert!

[weinoo]

I have this thing which looks like the one above, but is slightly different. It works okay, but I think it will work even better with plain old wooden popsicle sticks (anyone have a good source for those?).

Here's a raspberry popsicle; the alcohol component is Kirsch, but only 1 T per pint of puree.

And I imagine that the grapefruit/Campari sorbet that I often make will be just fine as popsicles. The nice thing about sorbets with Campari is that you don't need much booze and the Campari flavor shines right through.

[Darienne]

Very nice, Weinoo.

Dollarama stores for popsicle sticks in the kids' toys section.