Some of the paletas I made during yesterday's hurricane: Watermelon; ginger-limeade; cucumber-tarragon; tomato water with red pepper, cucumber and basil; banana-cinammon; and coconut milk.
Here’s the great thing about homemade paletas: You really don’t need a recipe.
Oh, a list of ingredients might be helpful, but you can make seriously delicious frozen pops on a stick by improvising with whatever you’ve got in the fruit bowl, the herb garden, and the spice pantry.
While Hurricane Irene was whipping the trees around our house into a wild green frenzy on Saturday, I was piddling around the kitchen, happy as a six year old with a box of art supplies, inventing sweet and savory concoctions destined for the freezer. As one writer put it, I was making “bliss on a stick”--and a lot of it.
There was watermelon with fresh mint, limeade with (and without) ginger, heirloom tomato water with sweet red pepper and basil, cucumber with tarragon, a splash of white wine and, wait for it….candied Luxardo maraschino cherries.
Yes, yes. I recoiled when B breezily proffered that idea. But trust me: it is fabulous. A little like eating sweet anise-flavored cucumber sorbet with a dark cherry-almond surprise tucked inside. (Don’t try this with bright red supermarket maraschinos, however.)
That’s the other great thing about ice pops: They’re so easy that you can (almost) painlessly test your husband’s crazy ideas.
Irene was the hurricane that wasn’t. There wasn’t much rain, at least around here. There was wind, all right, barreling in from the north, strong enough to send two big branches of the tulip poplar crashing into the front flower bed and put a southward cant on the bananas and other tropicals outside the kitchen window.
Neighborhood dog walkers were treated to the vision of someone from this house, clad in his striped English nightshirt, attacking the fallen branches with a hand saw early this morning.
I was inside, of course, sampling the paletas I made yesterday. At last count there were, um, 43 of them. While artillery rounds of hickory nuts were ricocheting off the roof, I was elbow deep in fruit and veggie purees. Handfuls of herbs, a box of coconut milk, grated bittersweet chocolate, and a bottle of Macon Villages were at the ready.
Here’s what I learned in the ice pop marathon:
1. Experimenting with flavors is fun, especially if you’re having a party. Start with a few crowd pleasers like limeade, melon with mint, maybe dark chocolate. Then add a surprise savory pop: the pale orange heirloom tomato water paleta, based on a deconstructed gazpacho I had at Nana’s in Durham the other night, turned out to be my absolute favorite. Finish up with a zinger, say mango or pineapple laced with explosive red chile powder, or the aforementioned cucumber-tarragon-Luxardo cherry blend. Variety is the spice of life, right?
2. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. I was sure I’d love frozen chai on a stick but I dumped those pops when they proved to be overly bland. Next time I’ll amp up the spices and cut back on the water. And the banana-cinnamon milkshake that wowed me in Bali needs a lot more work before making a public debut. In ice pop land, tomorrow is another day—meanwhile you can always wash the evidence of your mistakes down the sink.
3. When choosing ingredients, keep it simple. Fresh ripe fruit needs very little in the way of additional flavor. One herb, such as mint with melon, is plenty, although you may have to brighten it with a splash of lime juice and a little sugar or simple syrup. Savory pops bloom with a dash of sea salt.
4. Most fresh ingredients can be pureed in a food processor or blender. Try not to add water so as not to dilute the flavor. Most purees don’t need to be strained—tomato water is an exception—but if you must, line a large strainer with cheesecloth and press on the solids with the back of a wooden spoon to release the liquid. Then add finely chopped herbs and other ingredients for flavor and texture.
5. When filling molds, leave half an inch of space at the top. (Liquid expands as it freezes.) If you want to use wooden sticks instead of plastic ones, freeze the pops for 2 hours and then insert the sticks. Leave at least 2 inches of stick to hold onto.
6. Freeze for a total of 4 to 6 hours before unmolding. Run a little warm water over the plastic part of the mold, then tug gently on the stick to release. Homemade pops start melting right away, so eat them quickly!
I used two kinds of molds: Norpro's Frozen Ice Pop Maker is an aluminum and plastic mold that makes ten classic 2-1/2-ounce pops at a time. It comes with a metal cover with slits for the wooden sticks. I also liked Tovolo’s fluted Star Pop Molds which make six 3-ounce pops at one go.
A rectangular glass vase filled with ice will keep your prize paletas frosty when being served.
The easy way to serve homemade paletas is to hand them out as quickly as you can unmold them over the kitchen sink. (Have a stack of paper napkins handy.) But they're so pretty that it's worth giving some thought to presentation. Haul out that big glass vase you never use, your kooky Mexican turkey tureen or any galvanized metal bucket, and fill with crushed ice. Then insert the paletas on their sticks into the ice. They’ll stay frosty, at least for a while.
I’ve also planted pops in small glazed flower pots filled with ice—a fun way to serve dessert at the dinner table. (All this works better inside, especially if the outside temp is edging into the nineties or worse.)
I did say that you don’t need recipes, but, OK, here are four of my favorites.
Heirloom Tomato Water Ice Pops with Cucumber, Sweet Red Pepper and Basil
(Based on Scott Howell’s Chilly Clear Gazpacho at Nana's in Durham, N.C.)
Makes 8 to 10 ice pops
Ingredients:
3 pounds heirloom yellow and red tomatoes
1 tablespoon sweet red pepper, ¼ inch dice
1 tablespoon cucumber, peeled and seeded, ¼ inch dice
1 tablespoon packed basil leaves, finely slivered
Lemon or lime juice, to taste
Sea salt, to taste
Method:
1. Core the tomatoes and chop them coarsely. Puree them in a food processor until very smooth and liquid.
2. Line a large strainer with cheesecloth and place over a wide bowl. Slowly pour in the pureed tomatoes and press the liquid through the lined strainer with the back of a wooden spoon. Reserve the solids—they’ll make a great tomato sauce.
3. You should have about 2-1/2 cups of tomato water. Season with sea salt and a squeeze of lemon or lime.
4. To make both plain and fancy pops, divide the liquid in half. Set one half aside. Stir the cucumber, red pepper and basil into the other half.
5. To make the pops, pour the plain tomato water into 4-5 molds. Pour the tomato water with vegetables and basil into another 4-5 molds. Freeze for 4 to 6 hours. (If using wooden sticks, insert after 2 hours so that they will stand up straight.)
6. To serve, quickly run warm water over the plastic part of the molds and pull gently. Serve at once.
Frosty Limeade Pops With (or Without) Ginger
Ingredients:
Fresh squeezed lime juice
Cold water
Sugar or simple syrup
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Method:
1. Combine the lime juice and water, at a ratio of 1:2. (i.e. 1/2 cup lime juice to 1 cup water) Slowly add sugar or simple syrup to taste. The limeade should be intensely flavored, aiming for a balance between sweetness and acidity.
2. If using grated ginger, tie it up in a small piece of cheesecloth and squeeze the ginger liquid into a bowl. Adding ½ teaspoon at a time, stir the ginger liquid into the limeade. The limeade should be pleasantly spicy, but not dominated by the flavor of the ginger.
3. Pour the limeade into 6 molds, leaving ½ inch at the top. Freeze for two hours, then insert wooden sticks if using. Freeze for 4 to 6 hours total.
4. To serve, quickly run warm water over the plastic part of the mold and pull gently on the stick to release the frozen pop. Serve immediately.
Watermelon-Mint Paletas
Ingredients:
2 cups sweet, ripe watermelon, rind and seeds removed
Simple syrup
Few drops lime juice
Fresh mint, finely chopped
Method:
1. Puree the watermelon in a food processor or blender until smooth. 2 cups of watermelon chunks will yield about 1-3/4 cups watermelon puree.
2. If the melon needs sweetening, add a little simple syrup, a teaspoon at a time. To brighten the flavor, add a few drops of lime juice. Stir in the fresh mint.
3. Pour the puree into the molds, leaving ½ inch at the top. Freeze for two hours; then insert wooden sticks if using.
4. Freeze for a total of 4 to 6 hours. To unmold, run warm water briefly over the plastic part of the mold and pull gently on the stick to release.
5. Serve immediately.
Dark Chocolate Ice Pops With (Or Without) Ground Red Chile
I love making these very intense frozen chocolate pops with fruity-tasting red chile powder from Santa Fe, but you can use almost any pure ground red chile or even a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Just be sure to add it slowly—especially cayenne—and taste after every addition.
Makes 5 or 6 ice pops
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups water
½ cup unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa (I use Pernigotti)
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup finely grated bittersweet dark chocolate
Few grains salt
¼ teaspoon red chile powder, or to taste (optional)
Method:
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, cocoa and sugar. Whisk the cocoa and sugar into the water until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is very smooth. Add the grated chocolate and salt, and whisk to combine. If using red chile powder, whisk in ¼ teaspoon at a time. The heat of the chile should be noticeable, but not should overwhelm the flavor of the chocolate.
2. Cool the mixture in the freezer. Pour it into the molds, leaving ½ inch of space at the top. If using wooden sticks, freeze the mixture for 2 hours and then insert the sticks.
3. Freeze for a total of 6 to 8 hours. To unmold, run a little warm water over the plastic part of the mold and tug gently on the stick to release. Serve at once—chocolate ice pops melt very quickly.
