Watermelon-Jalapeño Popsicles

It was a real toss-up whether to make these or the Peach-Vanilla Cream Pops for FROZEN night. These were the last frozen treat I was making before I made my final decision. As soon as I tasted the tantalizing heat and summer-drenched sweetness of this concoction, I knew I had my pop.

I made little sample-sizesr for Dessert Club in an ice cube tray. An easy way is to fill the wells, lay plastic wrap on top and stick your toothpicks or popsicle sticks through to hold them up straight. Mostly.The jalapeño's seeds are removed, but even so these are "too spicy" for my kids - depends on their tolerance. One friend at Dessert Club "does not do jalapeños." So these weren't for her. I would say I have a medium heat threshold, and I LOVED these - add the seeds if you're a heat-seeker.

Why pectin? It's a clever little popsicle ingredient - in this case it keeps all the other ingredients incorporated evenly; without it, they would separate. You can get liquid pectin at your grocery store by other canning supplies - at mine it is with the Gladware and plastic wrap. In some, near the baking supplies. It is usually a small box of 2 or 3 mylar pouches.

As far as summer treats go, this is about as healthy, easy and satisfying as it gets. Each 3-ounce pop has only 76 calories and 0.1 grams of fat. And it has that magical property of satisfying both sweet and savory cravings, which for this late-night snacker is like pink gold. Watermelon-Jalapeño Popsicles (print recipe)
3 cups fresh watermelon cubes, chilled
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 T light-colored corn syrup
1 T liquid pectin
1 large jalapeño pepper, halved, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 tsp grated lime rind

In a blender or food processor, combine watermelon, sugar, lime juice, corn syrup, pectin and jalepeño. Process until pureed. Stir in lime rind. Pour into 8 (3-ounce) ice pop molds. Freeze at least 6 hours or until firm.

Recipe from Cooking Light, June 2011

Peach-Vanilla Cream Pops

I love it when the picture says so much more than I could. Look at that color. That is the color of fresh peaches pureed with cream (and a little Greek yogurt.) And those are the exotic black specks of a real vanilla bean, hand scraped and meticulously added to a simple syrup. These are what I call grown-up popsicles. Not because kids don't like 'em - mine gobbled them up and fought tooth-and-nail over the last one - but because they are fresh and a little unexpected. A perfect cool treat for summer.

Peach-Vanilla Cream Pops (print recipe)
Makes about 8 to 10 popsicles

1/2 cup plus 2 T sugar
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
4 cups sliced peeled ripe peaches (about 4 medium), or 16 oz. frozen sliced peaches, thawed
1/2 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup Greek-style yogurt

1. Place sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean and add them to the pan; add bean. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Transfer syrup to a small bowl; chill. Discard vanilla bean.

2. Puree syrup and peaches in a food processor until smooth. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium pitcher or pouring liquid measuring cup; strain, pressing on solids to extract about 2 1/4 cups puree. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Divide among molds. Cover; insert ice-pop sticks. Freeze until firm. Dip bottoms of molds into hot water for 20 to 30 seconds to loosen pops. Remove pops from molds and serve.

Recipe from Bon Appetit, June 2011

One year ago: Ranch Hamburger Buns
Two years ago: Coconut Milk Pudding Rolls

Kiwi Pops

How do you describe the taste of a kiwi? No idea. But you know they're good. And intriguing. I love the taste and texture of a perfectly ripe kiwi, and those teeny crisp black seeds make them oh-so-exotic!

But they are an oft-overlooked fruit. Which is why I was thuh-rilled to find a popsicle all to themselves. OK, so there's lime juice in there. And sugar, of course. But it's just for support and doesn't overwhelm. We served these up at a playdate at our house, and all five kids age 3 to 5 ate them up. Three cheers for fruit in any form! Especially this one.

Kiwi Pops

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups sliced kiwis, with or without peel (that's right!)

3/4 cup fresh lime juice

1. In a saucepan, combine 1 cup water and the sugar. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or longer to cool.

2. Combine the kiwis and lime juice in a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.

3. Add the sugar water and 1 1/2 cups cold water to the kiwi mixture and process again to combine.

4. Pour the mixture into your pop molds. Insert the sticks. Freeze for at least 6 hours.

5. Remove from the freezer; let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing the pops from the molds. Makes six 8-oz or eight 6-oz pops

Variations

Kiwi & Strawberry Pops: Reduce the kiwi to 2 cups. Add 1 cup strawberries in step 2. Add an additional 1/2 cup sliced strawberries to the molds in step 4.

Kiwi & Pineapple Pops: Reduce the kiwi to 2 cups. Replace the water with pineapple juice. Add 1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple chunks to the molds in step 4.

Recipe from POPS! Icy Treats for Everyone by Krystina Castella

Root Beer Float Pops

Does anything say "carefree summer," or if you went to BYU, "low-budget refreshments" better than a root beer float? Gotta love 'em. Well these pops are just what they say they are: frozen root beer floats in popsicle molds. Just a slightly more portable, slightly less spillable, version for the kiddos. Plus I had to try out my new swirly molds. Absolutely perfect for your next FHE.

Beware the foam, though! You know the foam. Well the foam is too bubbly to freeze solid. So to cut it down you must carefully lower the ice cream into the root beer and scoop any foam that does form off the top. Not a huge hassle but it really must be done.

Obviously this popsicle has a million variations - replace the root beer with pretty much any soda, like orange, birch beer, cream soda, etc. Or replace it with lemon-lime soda or ginger ale and then replace the ice cream with any sherbet, yum. Now go forth and FLOAT!

Root Beer Float Pops

4 cups root beer (about 3 cans)

6 or 8 maraschino cherries, stemmed

2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream

1. Pour cold root beer into a pitcher and put it in the freezer for 10 minutes. This will make it very cold and reduce the ice cream melt factor.

2. Put a cherry in each mold. Pour some root beer into each mold until half full.

3. Gently lower a small scoop of ice cream into each pop mold so it is about 3/4 full.

4. Slowly add more root beer until the molds are full. Scoop off the foam with a spoon. Freeze for at least 6 hours.

5. Remove from the freezer; let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing the pops from the molds.

Recipe from POPS! Icy Treats for Everyone by Krystina Castella

Makes six 8-oz pops or eight 6-oz pops

Firecracker Pops

A dessert with blueberries, strawberries and something white and creamy is a natural choice for the 4th of July. There are parfaits and trifles, shortcakes and sundaes, and of course the ubiquitous flag cake (although, wow, check out this flag cake - I've never seen anything like it.)

This summer I have invested in new popsicle molds. Three different sets, in fact, and I plan to use them. Which means you will be getting popsicles. They are -

1 - quick

2 - easy

3 - not hot

- all requirements for me to get anything made these days. Plus kid-friendly. And, while hardly a requirement on the VGP, it's always nice to find something low in fat (0.6g) and calories (59). My girls love how these look like firecrackers exploding (minus the loud noise.)

Firecracker Pops
1/2 lb strawberries, hulled and quartered (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 lb blueberries (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/4 cups low-fat plain yogurt (I used vanilla)

1. In a food processor, puree strawberries with 1 T sugar. Transfer to a small bowl. Wipe out processor.

2. In processor, puree blueberries with 1 T sugar. In another small bowl, whisk together yogurt and 2 T sugar.

3. Pour the three mixtures, alternating into, into ten 3-ounce ice-pop molds, making 3 to 5 layers each. With a skewer or thin-bladed knife, swirl mixtures together in an up-and-down motion. Insert ice-pop sticks and freeze until solid, 2 1/2 to 3 hours (up to 1 week.)

Recipe from Everyday Food, July/Aug 2010