Four years studying English and History and a year spent making popsicles. What have I learned over the past year? I have learned that the shortest time you can count on for a popsicle to freeze solidly is four hours. No matter how hard you wish it, you can't change that. I learned that family and friends will generously put up with random cylinders of test popsicles falling out of their freezer for days, weeks, and months on end. I learned that popsicles can be made and eaten in winter. I learned that there should be more spicy popsicles in the world. I learned loads about English and History, but that is for another project. It was a year of fun, a year of family and friends, and a year of receiving a lot of popsicle-based gifts. Thank you to everyone in my life who supported the project, chatted with me about the week's flavor, or engaged with me about my popsicle plans. It was an absolute joy to get to spend a year churning out popsicles. Now, on to pie. While I would never say no to a spicy plum or raspberry lime popsicle, at the end of the day, I exit this popsicle project how I ended it: deeply in love with lemon popsicles. Perhaps it is my allegiance to my childhood camp "nature" name or maybe I just seek out the tart in life. Regardless of reason, a lemon popsicle is still my go to popsicle. There is no recipe - just freeze lemonade!
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A few nights ago at dinner I asked my roommates if they thought my penultimate popsicle should be a root beer float popsicle. Griffin responded "yes." That is the joy of popsicles. Simplicity. I will miss that feeling in a week. Root Beer Float Popsicles
Yield: 6 popsicles | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 5 hours Ingredients Vanilla ice cream Root Beer Directions Spoon ice cream into base of molds and let harden. After set, pour in root beer. Freeze until solid. I love yogurt covered pretzels. The amount of times I have made myself sick in a honda-brand car from over eating yogurt covered pretzels? Twenty five times would be my estimate. They are the perfect snack. And thus, due to my somewhat reverent view of the yogurt covered pretzel, this week's popsicle took quite a few attempts to get right. The yogurt had to be sweet enough, the pretzel had to be snappy enough, and the mouth feel had to be similar enough to the real thing that I felt I had done my snack justice. The key? Stale pretzels. Don't be afraid to live vulnerably. Yogurt Covered Pretzel Popsicles
Yield: 6 popsicles | Prep Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 6 hours Ingredients 1/2 cup yogurt 1/2 cup milk 1/3 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup stale pretzels, chopped Whole stale pretzel sticks Directions Mix together yogurt, milk and powdered sugar. Mix in chopped pretzel bits. Pour into molds and begin to chill. Once semi chilled, insert whole pretzel sticks. Freeze until solid. Tahini is exciting because it can be sweet or savory. In this week's popsicle, it is sweet. I knew I wanted to make a tahini popsicle, but wasn't exactly sure how to cut its thick, intense flavor. While browsing the internet, I came across a fun white chocolate project. The project seemed like a good use of my now-empty afternoons, my impressively large stash of sprinkles that I am trying to use before my exit from Providence, and a bag of white chocolate chips. Thus was born the white chocolate tahini popsicle. White Chocolate Tahini Popsicles
Yield: 4 popsicles | Prep Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 6 hours Ingredients 2 tbsp tahini 2 cups milk (I used lactose free milk but any milk substitute will work) 3/4 cups white chocolate chips Sprinkles Clean bubble wrap Directions Vigorously whisk tahini into milk. Pour into molds and begin to chill. While popsicles are setting, melt chocolate in double broiler or microwave. Spread sprinkles out over bubble wrap. Pour melted chocolate over bubble wrap. Spread into an even layer and let cool. Once hardened, break into pieces and press into the semi-frozen liquid in the molds, along with popsicle sticks. Freeze until solid.
Guava Pineapple Popsicles
Yield: 6 popsicles | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 6 hours Ingredients 2 cups guava juice 1/4 cup guava paste 1/4 cup pineapple Directions Thinly slice the guava paste and pineapple into ribbons. Fit into molds. Pour in guava juice. Freeze until solid. This week's popsicle is VERY coconut-ey. If you don't like coconut, you will NOT like this popsicle. But if you do like coconut. Oh man. The base is pure coconut milk, with a bit of sweetness thrown in. If I were to make these popsicles on a day that was not Easter, I would cover the entire popsicle in the toasted coconut flakes. That may seem overly devoted, but that is just how much I love a flaked and then toasted piece of coconut flesh. I DID make these popsicles on Easter, and thus I added in little pastel eggs and just enough coconut to make a nest to cradle the egg. I purchased all natural food coloring very much by mistake for a holiday cookie decorating soiree. I paid the price that December night as people attempted to frost trees, presents, and gingerbread with soft pastels. However, I resurrected myself (ha!) and finally got a bit of use out of the weak, weak, natural food dyes. As is always true with popsicles, patience is the name of the game. Coconut Popsicles
Yield: 4 popsicles | Prep Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 6 hours Ingredients 1 can full fat coconut milk 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp sweetener of choice 1/4 cup coconut flakes Directions Combine coconut milk and sweetener. Pour into molds. Freeze until solid. Toast coconut flakes until lightly brown. Mix in sweetener and coat popsicles in flakes. Freeze until set. The project was supposed to have a loquat popsicle a long, long time ago. However, to acquire the loquats for the popsicle required shenanigans, the cover of darkness, and potentially breaking the law. So, the project had no loquat popsicle. However, I felt adamant that the project have some sort of quat. Thus I present the kumquat popsicle - an entirely different flavor profile and texture, but a sure and reliable quat. The loquat is a meaty quat - similar to the apricot in ways. But the kumquat is a zinger of a fruit. You can eat the skin. Its tang attacks you. Thus, it felt correct to pair it with another food item that attacks you - sparkling water. I mixed one of the project's staple liquids, tangerine juice, with the sparkling water to create a sweet, punchy base to complement the kumquat's sour, bouncy flavor. I made the popsicle tiny because I love tiny things and felt that the project did not have enough tiny popsicles. Sparkling Kumquat Popsicles
Yield: 6 tiny popsicles | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 5 hours Ingredients 1 carton kumquats 3 cans sparkling water 1 cup citrus juice (I used tangerine) Directions Mix the sparkling water and citrus juice. Fill molds 3/4 full with liquid mixture. Thinly slice the kumquats and distribute between the molds. Freeze until solid. It is finally getting warm here in Providence, and thus it finally felt time to make a much anticipated (by me) popsicle - the iced coffee popsicle. Iced Coffee Push Pops
Yield: 6 popsicles | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 4 hours Ingredients 3 cups of your favorite decaf coffee (I used blue fire) 1/2 cup of your preferred milk for coffee 3 tbsp of your preferred sweetener for coffee Directions Brew coffee according to directions and let cool. Mix in your milk and sweetener. Pour into molds. Freeze until solid. About a decade ago, Ralph Lachmann spent a summer describing every tiramisu he ate as "delicate." Today, on april fool's day, I present the tiramisu popsicle, a popsicle that is certainly not delicate. It would most accurately be described as "crunchy"! It has layers of sweet mascarpone, vanilla cookies, and strong coffee. A fun and silly pop for a fun and silly day!
Gooseberries are so cool. They are a little pop of flavor in an ornate wrapper. Serrano chiles are also cool, but in a more terrifying way. This week's popsicle, then, is very cool, while also being quite hot. Gooseberry Serrano Popsicles
Ingredients Serrano chiles, sliced Gooseberries, sliced Any citrus juice Directions Add sliced gooseberries and chiles to mold. Pour citrus juice to fill. Freeze until solid. |