Popsicles

[blue_dolphin]

Wow, it's been a while!  We haven't had a lick of popsicle weather yet but I decided to get ready anyway.  

I made a Strawberry and Black Pepper Gin & Tonic from a cookbook recipe and decided to turn it into a poptail.  I made a black pepper simple syrup, using tonic instead of water to dissolve the sugar and blended that with the berries.  I added a bit of tonic syrup to up the flavor and a tot of gin.  I gave them a sprinkle of black pepper after unmolding. 

 

Had to make a few classic strawberry & cream pops, too.

 

[blue_dolphin]

Two apricot pops from People's Pops that I don't think I've tried before.  Both apricot with floral notes.

Apricot & lavender

These are sweetened with a lavender simple syrup.  I used a drop of the leftover syrup to adhere a few lavender buds to each pop.  Thinking back, I wish I would have dried the lavender buds that I use to make the syrup and crushed or ground them with sugar.  It would have made a pretty and tasty sprinkle for the pops.  

 

Apricot & Orange Blossom

These are just basic apricot pops with the addition of orange blossom water to taste. 

[DesertTinker]

@blue_dolphin My Popsicle mold arrived today. Thanks, I think…🙃 

I’ll also blame Bon Appétit’s June/July issue with Yogurt-Berry Paletas on the cover.

[DesertTinker]

@blue_dolphinThe prettiest of my first batch. I followed this recipe, but realized when I got home from shopping that I’d forgotten to buy any lemons.  Went online to get ideas and found a lot of (non popsicle) blueberry and ginger recipes, so I grabbed the ginger I had and cut a few “coins” to use for infusing the blueberries. They’re not expertly crafted, but still delicious. I was going to use the wooden sticks, but things came up unexpectedly, so I just used the plastic ones that came with the set.

Oh, and I’ll never match your beautiful tiny lettering on the sticks.😍😍

[blue_dolphin]

19 minutes ago, DesertTinker said:

@blue_dolphinThe prettiest of my first batch. I followed this recipe, but realized when I got home from shopping that I’d forgotten to buy any lemons.  Went online to get ideas and found a lot of (non popsicle) blueberry and ginger recipes, so I grabbed the ginger I had and cut a few “coins” to use for infusing the blueberries. They’re not expertly crafted, but still delicious. I was going to use the wooden sticks, but things came up unexpectedly, so I just used the plastic ones that came with the set.

Oh, and I’ll never match your beautiful tiny lettering on the sticks.😍😍

That sounds really good and looks so pretty. I really like blueberries in popsicles and should make a batch!

Edited June 23, 2023 by blue_dolphin (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Another poptail!  The other day, I made a Cucumber-Basil Gimlet cocktail from Getaway

 

and couldn't resist making a popsicle version.

I wanted it to be pretty and green like the cocktail so I used Persian cucumbers from the farmers market and didn't peel them as I normally would. I made a basil-infused simple syrup for sweetness,  plenty of lime juice to tart things up and just a little gin.  

 

[blue_dolphin]

Paletas de Naranja con Chamoy from Asada

 

What you do here is make a batch of orange pops, unmold them, put a spoon of chamoy into the molds, return the pops to the molds and freeze them again. 
Chamoy is that sweet/tart/slightly spicy sauce that's often sold next to Tajín or other brands of chile/lime/salt and, like the sprinkle, it's also often used on fresh fruit.  I followed a recipe in the book to make my own and am glad I tried as it's easy and the flavor really is much nicer than the bottled stuff.  As written, these are kind of a watery/icy juice pop but the addition of diced orange pieces and the syrupy chamoy on top makes them more interesting.

 

Here's what the orange pops looked like after their first unmolding, before they went back into the molds with the chamoy. 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Chocolate de Agua Paletas from Asada made with Rancho Gordo stoneground chocolate

Super simple, just Mexican chocolate whisked into hot water, a little sugar and a drop of vanilla extract.  I've made other versions that add cinnamon, cayenne or (gasp!) milk and cream and while they are nice, this simple recipe really lets the chocolate flavor shine.  Also surprisingly creamy texture just from the chocolate/water mixture.

 

[kayb]

Can I come to your house and eat popsicles?

[Katie Meadow]

3 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Chocolate de Agua Paletas from Asada made with Rancho Gordo stoneground chocolate

Super simple, just Mexican chocolate whisked into hot water, a little sugar and a drop of vanilla extract.  I've made other versions that add cinnamon, cayenne or (gasp!) milk and cream and while they are nice, this simple recipe really lets the chocolate flavor shine.  Also surprisingly creamy texture just from the chocolate/water mixture.

 

Kill.   Me.   Now.

[pastrygirl]

Does anyone have a recipe for root beer popsicles?  I just had an inquiry.  Beyond just freezing off-the-shelf root beer

 

[blue_dolphin]

37 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

Does anyone have a recipe for root beer popsicles?  I just had an inquiry.  Beyond just freezing off-the-shelf root beer

 

I checked my books and don’t find any straight up root beer pops.  I've got a few recipes for root beer float pops that loosely fill the molds with little bits of vanilla ice cream and then pour in flat, cold root beer. 

Eat Your Books tells me there's a root beer sorbet in The Modern Café by Francisco Migoya and the CIA that uses both root beer and root beer extract, sugar, sorbet stabilizer and glucose powder.  I don’t have the book, but an approach like this (root beer + extract) sounds like the best route 🤣 for a good root beer flavor in a frozen treat.  

[pastrygirl]

Thanks, I don't have that book either.   Maybe I'll try this syrup:

 

https://beveragemixers.com/products/genuine-root-beer?srsltid=AfmBOoppTOgovspQsS_lxb1Wwb7BeHqETffOTnOIVbjNXB6h61yOvc-E

[DesertTinker]

@pastrygirl Thanks for the reminder. I haven’t done any popsicles this year, and root beer (float or not) sounds intriguing.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Not popsicles exactly, but I would welcome some popsicle related advice.  I am wanting to make a flavored shaved ice confection.  Desserts such as snow cones, raspadilla, and shikashika are made by pouring flavored syrup over shaved ice.  But what I want to do is freeze the mixture and then shave it.  My assumption is such a recipe would be closer to a popsicle recipe than to a snow cone recipe?

 

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Not popsicles exactly, but I would welcome some popsicle related advice.  I am wanting to make a flavored shaved ice confection.  Desserts such as snow cones, raspadilla, and shikashika are made by pouring flavored syrup over shaved ice.  But what I want to do is freeze the mixture and then shave it.  My assumption is such a recipe would be closer to a popsicle recipe than to a snow cone recipe?

 

So you want to shave a popsicle without making one first? I wish I was with you and we could get high together. I'll bring the shave-ice machine we gave our daughter when she was seven, which would be thirty years ago. We can mix up a batch of flavored sugar water and freeze it in the provided mold and then shave it, and voila! Now that I think about it I'm surprised I never tried to make real espresso shave ice with that thing. And now I wonder where that thing is. In the cavernous basement? Under the bed? Under your bed? @blue_dolphin we may need your help. 

[blue_dolphin]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Not popsicles exactly, but I would welcome some popsicle related advice.  I am wanting to make a flavored shaved ice confection.  Desserts such as snow cones, raspadilla, and shikashika are made by pouring flavored syrup over shaved ice.  But what I want to do is freeze the mixture and then shave it.  My assumption is such a recipe would be closer to a popsicle recipe than to a snow cone recipe?

 

Recipes for popsicles and sorbets are pretty similar. In both cases, steps are usually taken to lessen the icy texture and make it more smooth at serving temp.  You might want to do the opposite - leave out or reduce any alcohol, etc.
Will you be using a cryostat or a freezing microtome to do the shaving?  Are you wanting little frozen curls? Something more crumbly? Or something else? 

[pastrygirl]

I think if you want shave ice texture you'd want little or no sugar in your flavored base so it freezes hard enough.

 

 

 

 

[pastrygirl]

Surprise hit at my artist community summer open house last night was lemon sour cream.  

 

Sour cream, simple syrup, lemon juice, & meyer lemon concentrate mixed to taste.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Recipes for popsicles and sorbets are pretty similar. In both cases, steps are usually taken to lessen the icy texture and make it more smooth at serving temp.  You might want to do the opposite - leave out or reduce any alcohol, etc.
Will you be using a cryostat or a freezing microtome to do the shaving?  Are you wanting little frozen curls? Something more crumbly? Or something else? 

 

I have a "slushie" machine sitting on my kitchen counter where the Ninja Creami used to be.

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

So far I have used the appliance only for shaving unflavored ice.  The method consists of a compressor cooled drum that rotates at variable speed against a sharp blade.  I am impressed how well it works.  It takes only about a minute before ice starts coming out.  Despite the name, the result is nothing like a slushie, as I understand a slushie.

 

I'm not looking for sorbet texture.  I can do sorbet in the Ninja, which now lives in the bedroom.  What I am looking for is a lighter, icier texture.  There is a dial to adjust the texture from little frozen curls to the finest powdered snow.

 

[blue_dolphin]

7 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I'm not looking for sorbet texture.  I can do sorbet in the Ninja, which now lives in the bedroom.  What I am looking for is a lighter, icier texture.  There is a dial to adjust the texture from little frozen curls to the finest powdered snow.

Well, I use the same mix for popsicles and sorbets. If you’re confident that your  slushie machine would turn that into a sorbet, regardless of the dial setting, then perhaps popsicles aren’t a good starting point for your needs.