Popsicles

[blue_dolphin]

Two more pops.  Lime paletas from Paletas, using limes from my tree:

 

And using the same ingredients as the Cucumber Ginger Limeade I posted about in the Deep Run Roots thread, I made Cucumber-Lime-Ginger pops:

 

 

Edited July 28, 2017 by blue_dolphin
Extra photo (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Two more similar-looking pear pops, both repeats from last year.  

Pear, ginger & cream -  from People's Pops:

 

Pear, ginger & Riesling, a modification of the above recipe.

Last year, I liked the wine variation.  This year, the cream version is winning me over.  Both have little cubes of candied ginger mixed in for texture and flavor.

Edited August 6, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Toliver]

I saw this recipe in an email from The Pioneer Woman's web site:

"Arnold Palmer Popsicles"

 

They sound refreshing!

 

[blue_dolphin]

I gotta try those Arnold Palmer pops one of these days but my little next door neighbor requested strawberries so I remade 2 favorites from the People's Pops cookbook.

Top Row:  Strawberries & balsamic vinegar

Bottom Row: Strawberries & cream 

[Shelby]

Your little next door neighbor is a lucky girl 

[blue_dolphin]

Fig and Ricotta Cheesecake Popsicles using a recipe from Lady & Pups:

I needed to dial back on the sweetened condensed milk just a bit. 

[Smithy]

On 9/3/2017 at 2:20 PM, blue_dolphin said:

I gotta try those Arnold Palmer pops one of these days but my little next door neighbor requested strawberries so I remade 2 favorites from the People's Pops cookbook.

Top Row:  Strawberries & balsamic vinegar

Bottom Row: Strawberries & cream 

 

Those look beautiful. The red is so very intense that it makes me wonder whether I've forgotten true strawberries.  That is entirely possible, but it's also possible that you did something to concentrate the flavor and color.  Which is it?

[blue_dolphin]

9 hours ago, Smithy said:

Those look beautiful. The red is so very intense that it makes me wonder whether I've forgotten true strawberries.  That is entirely possible, but it's also possible that you did something to concentrate the flavor and color.  Which is it?

 

Thanks!  My 6 yo neighbor gives them high marks.  She says they taste like, "STRAWBERRIES!!!"  

I didn't do anything to concentrate the flavor or color but I noticed that the color seems to come out a bit more intense in the frozen pops than it appears in the liquid purée, though both are very red.   The recipes from People's Pops really use a lot of fruit - over a pound of berries is used for the 16 fl oz of purée that makes 10 pops.  Also,  I'm using the lovely ripe local strawberries from Harry's Berries that I get at the farmers market.  They are red, through and through - no white shoulders or cores so that may help, too.

[blue_dolphin]

We've been having a heat wave here so it's time to re-stock my stash of popsicles.  I'm going with fall flavors even if it doesn't feel at all like fall - after three days in a row of > 100°F temps, we're expecting a big cool down to 90F today 

Yesterday, I made these pumpkin pie with whipped cream pops from the People's Pops cookbook.

These are sweetened with a simple syrup infused with fresh ginger, cloves, star anise, allspice and cardamom.  Nice flavors .

I roasted a sugar pumpkin per the recipe but might try canned pumpkin next time.  Or even butternut squash.

Also, I over whipped the cream so it didn't swirl in as nicely as I wanted. I think I might just swirl in the heavy cream as is. Whipping 2 oz of cream is a bit of a pain. 

If serving for a party, I'd dip them in some speculoos cookie or graham cracker crumbs.

 

Next up:  cranberry, star anise & Campari.  Gotta go get some cranberries. 

Edited October 28, 2017 by blue_dolphin
to correct the auto-correct (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Cranberry, Star Anise & Campari pops from People's Pops.

These are an interesting pop to eat.  At first bite, I thought the star anise flavor was too strong but it sort of grew on me.  Both the cranberry and Campari flavors come through nicely. I ended up with some little bits of cranberry skin that aren't all that appealing to eat.  It's not suggested in the recipe but a food mill might have helped remove them.  

 

[blue_dolphin]

Well, the 80°F days are predicted to continue for a bit so popsicle season continues with a holiday theme.  

I'm calling these Eggnog Réveillon pops:

Trader Joe's eggnog spiked with a Réveillon cocktail (Calvados, pear eau-de-vie, St. Elizabeth's Allspice Dram, Carpano Antica and Fee's Old Fashion Aromatic Bitters) dusted with toast dope . I was going use a sprinkle of nutmeg but it wasn't enough color contrast and the toast dope was handy 

[TicTac]

After seeing everyone's unreal creations I finally succumb and bought a popsicle mold - ended up with this one: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B075J9VHGV/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1NWLVZ5JUI6X6&psc=1

 

Of all times, I pulled the trigger during the coldest day of the year so far....go figure.

 

Curious if anyone has a suggestion to a website which gives basic overview of popsicle making techniques which I can then innovate from?

[blue_dolphin]

48 minutes ago, TicTac said:

Curious if anyone has a suggestion to a website which gives basic overview of popsicle making techniques which I can then innovate from?

 

I'm not aware of any great overview websites so I'll be interested to hear the suggestions of others.  

I very highly recommend the book, People's Pops, which has a nice fundamentals section up front and a lot of flavor combination suggestions throughout.  They operate out of NYC and use mostly locally grown fresh fruit - and the occasional vegetable. The way the recipes are written (ingredients given in #, weight and volume) and the use of a basic simple syrup throughout (I make a big batch) means it's easy to scale down the recipes if you just want 4-5 to try out a recipe.  There's even a page on starting an ice pop business.  

Fany Gerson 's book Paletas is also very good and with its Mexican focus, includes more tropical flavors.  There's less background information and about half of the recipes are actually for shaved ices and agues frescas.

 

Edited to add:  I described how I unmold the pops in this post, above. 

Edited December 13, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[TicTac]

Thanks BD -

 

So essentially it is a Simple syrup / pureed fruit concoction...

 

Question - do you strain seeds/pulp out?  I also read up-thread that people roast fruit, is that simply to reduce water content?

 

Very excited!  I must be an oddball, wanting popsicles in this frigid Canadian (not even) winter....lol

[blue_dolphin]

11 minutes ago, TicTac said:

So essentially it is a Simple syrup / pureed fruit concoction...

Generally, yes.  The "Fundamentals" chapter in People's Pops book is titled "Fruit + Sugar + Freeze."  Lots of the recipes from that book infuse the simple syrup with flavorings - herbs, spices, vinegar, teas, etc. and often add cream or yogurt.  Sweetened condensed milk and coconut both turn up in other recipes I've used.  And of course, the occasional addition of a bit of booze.

 

18 minutes ago, TicTac said:

Question - do you strain seeds/pulp out?  I also read up-thread that people roast fruit, is that simply to reduce water content?

Most of the recipes don't require straining, although there are exceptions.  Blackberry seeds are best strained out but I don't strain strawberry or raspberry.  Concord grape skins can freeze into rather unpleasant shards and I prefer to strain.  Cranberries can go either way. 

Roasting helps concentrate the flavor and adds a rich note,  improves the texture and can help softens the skins so they don't need to be peeled or strained out unless you want to. Frozen apples and pears can be sort of fibrous unless they are roasted or stewed.  Peaches and nectarines can be used raw if they're perfectly ripe but if not, they certainly benefit from roasting.

 

28 minutes ago, TicTac said:

I must be an oddball, wanting popsicles in this frigid Canadian (not even) winter....lol

Well, people make and enjoy ice cream all year 

[TicTac]

Thank you for that detailed response!  Very helpful. 

 

That's true re: year round ice cream, but much of the world doesn't endure Canadian winters, but it takes a certain type of individual (*raises hand*) to want to make popsicles in -20 degree temps! 

 

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

23 minutes ago, TicTac said:

...it takes a certain type of individual (*raises hand*) to want to make popsicles in -20 degree temps! 

 

Yes, indeed!  I grew up with very cold and very long winters in northern NY.  Just before 2 AM today,  I got a phone call alerting me to a cold temp alarm at my late mother's home in that area.  I have it set to alarm at 40°F inside - it was 4°F outside.  I got the heat sorted out but if I were living there, I would absolutely NOT be making popsicles today 

[blue_dolphin]

Apparently we are not having winter here this year.  After a high of 92°F on Sunday,  I decided to replenish my supply of popsicles.

These are Paletas de Donají or mezcal-orange ice pops from Fany Gerson's Paletas.

According to the book, the Donají cocktail is served in a glass rimmed with a mixture of salt, chile and some sort of roasted insect.  I skipped the bugs and mixed up a salt:chile mix for dipping the pops just before serving.

[blue_dolphin]

Made a version of the Peach Melba Popsicles from Smitten Kitchen Everyday.

I've been wanting to make these since they appeared on the Smitten Kitchen blog a couple of years ago and finally got around to it.  
I'm not good at softening ice cream - I usually forget about it until it's become entirely liquid - so I used Greek yogurt instead of the called-for vanilla ice cream. I added a little of the simple syrup to the fruit and mixed the rest, along with a little vanilla extract, into the yogurt.

[blue_dolphin]

I had some leftover coconut milk with no other use in mind so.... 

Coconut-lime popsicles with just a bit of Kōloa Kaua'i coconut rum.

[blue_dolphin]

Paletas de Chocolate from Nopalito. 

 

These are chocolate-cinnamon popsicles and I thought the recipe was interesting as it doesn't include any sort of dairy or nut milk - just bittersweet chocolate, cocoa, sugar and water.  The cinnamon sticks are infused into the water and strained out.

Edited to add that these are truly chocolate popsicles - not chocolate flavored or fudgesicles - they are intensely chocolate! The cinnamon flavor didn't come through as much as I would have liked.  Next time, I may use more cinnamon and infuse it longer.  Maybe make a cinnamon-simple syrup instead of just infusing into water.

Edited April 10, 2018 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Smokeydoke]

@blue_dolphin Can I ask what mold you use? Those look gorgeous, I'd like to try making them.

[blue_dolphin]

7 minutes ago, Smokeydoke said:

@blue_dolphin Can I ask what mold you use? Those look gorgeous, I'd like to try making them.

 

Thanks!

I use this one. It's inexpensive and works fine for me.  I suggest skipping the lid as it's a pain to remove if even one of the sticks gets frozen at a crooked angle. Just set a timer for 45-60 min when you put them into the freezer and they'll be slushy enough to support the sticks.

I always unmold all the pops from a batch at once and store them in snack-size zip-top bags. If you prefer to unmold the pops one at a time, you'd probably want a different style mold.

[blue_dolphin]

Paletas de Café con Leche from Nopalito

I thought I would try to make my photo of more brown popsicles look more interesting by scattering some coffee beans around them.  Sort of a dumb idea as I then had to pick them off when I bagged them up !

 

Coarsely ground coffee and piloncillo are boiled together and allowed to steep before straining and mixing with heavy cream.  The coffee flavor is not quite as intense as in the David Lebovitz Vietnamese Coffee pops I made a while back  - I used very strong coffee + instant espresso powder for those - but still very nice.

 

 

[Smokeydoke]

@blue_dolphin I'm thinking of making a bunch of these in ice cubes, then popping them in my blender in the morning and drinking it on the way to work.