Ice Cold Paletas! Get 'em here!

If you live in south Texas or in Mexico you know about the Paleta Man.  If not, picture this; small-framed older man with a cowboy hat on either pushing a cart or he has the kind that is half bicycle with cart in the front.  He will have caramel-colored wrinkled weathered skin and kind eyes.  Paleta men are not usually skeevy or gross.

When he opens the lid to the brightly painted and decorated box on the cart he reaches in and brings out fabulous home-made frozen treats.

Paletas.

That's popsicles to you people who don't know about paletas.  Paletas come in 2 varieties.  Water-based and cream or yogurt based.  This time of year most people prefer the water-based flavors, but the creamy ones are great for dessert or when it isn't so miserably hot out.

Now, if you don't live near a paleta stand or where a paleta man comes to you, you will have to make your own.

In the old days before Tupperware everyone used regular ice trays to make teensy paleta cubes with a toothpick frozen in the middle to serve as a stick/handle.  You can make them out of leftover juice, koolaid or whatever you like.  Pickle juice is a favorite among the 8 - 13 crowd and all boys regardless of age.

But after Tupperware came up with their version of popsicle molds, it was waaaaay more fun to make things.  Here is what Tupperware has come up with over the ages, starting with the 1970s.

Tupperware still makes these things.  I think the latest reincarnation is the Mickey ones and they go for about $20.00.  Unless you can't live without Mickey Mouse popsicles, hit a neighborhood garage sale. You can find all sorts of old Tupperware for dirt cheap.

After you have either your Tupperware popsicle molds or ice cube trays or even teensy paper cups you will want to have some fabulous recipes to put inside them.
Here ya go!!

In Mexico there is a drink served everywhere called Jamaica (pronounced Ha-MY-kuh) that is essentially a tea made from dried hibiscus blossoms.  It is lovely and full of vitamin C and acts like a diuretic much like cranberry juice.  This recipe calls for making the Agua de Jamaica first and then adding raspberries.  Note: the Agua de Jamaica recipe here is a bit more concentrated than what you would make to drink.  So if you have any left you can add a bit of water till it tastes right and drink it.

Hibiscus-Raspberry Ice Pops

2 cups chilled Agua de Jamaica
2/3 cup sugar
4 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen

For the Agua de Jamaica

1 cup dried hibiscus flowers
1/3 cup sugar (or more to taste)

Rinse the flowers in cold water and drain thoroughly. Put them in a saucepan, cover with 4 cups water and let steep for at least 4 hours or overnight. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the sugar and continue to cook, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool to room temperature. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher, pressing the solids with the back of a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Add water to bring the volume up to 4 cups. If the flavor is too intense, add more water as needed. You can also add a little more sugar if you like.

After preparing the Agua de Jamaica, combine 2 cups with 1/3 cup sugar and warm over the stove till sugar is dissolved. Mix the raspberries with the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and let sit until they release some of their juice.  Then add the raspberries and their juice to each of the popsicle molds evenly. then pour in the Agua de Jamaica mixture dividing it evenly among the molds.

Here is another very traditional Mexican version of a Paleta.  But this one is a cream based.

Paletas de Yogurt con Moras

1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups plain unsweetened Greek style yogurt
2 Tbsp. honey
2 cups fresh blackberries

Rinse the lemon, then peel it. Combine 1/2 cup water and the sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium high heat, stirring until the mixture comes to a boil and the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon peel, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve, then refrigerate until chilled.

Add the yogurt and honey to the chilled syrup and stir until thoroughly combined. Put a bit of the yogurt mixture into each of the molds, to a height of about 3/4-inch. Freeze unti lthe mixture begins to set, about 40 minutes. If the blackberries are big, cut them in half. Divide the blackberries among the molds, then pour  in the remaining yogurt mixture, dividing it evenly amonthe molds and freeze solid.

Now we come to some that are a bit interesting and not-so-very traditional!

Balsamic Strawberry Pops

2 cups sliced, hulled strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons good quality balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place the strawberries and sugar in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture is finely chopped and juicy but still chunky; you don't want a smooth puree. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the balsamic vinegar and a few grinds of pepper.

Spoon the mixture into the ice pop molds and insert sticks. Freeze until firm, about 6 hours.


Prosecco-Rose Petal Pops

1 cup white grape juice
1 cup cold, flat Proseco
1/3 cup rose water
1 1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
30 (approximately) red rosebud petals, rinsed

In a large bowl, stir together the grape juice, Prosecco, rose water and lemon juice. Fill ice pop molds about 1/3 full. Drop 2 or 3 rose petals into each mold and freeze until set, about  30 minutes. Fill the molds another third of the way and drop 2 or 3 more rose petals in each mold. Insert sticks freeze until set about 30 minutes. Then fill all the way with the remaining mixture and drop 2 or 3 more petals into each mold. Freeze until set, at least 8 hours.


Honeydew- Lime Pops

4 cups 1-inch cubes peeled honeydew melon
1/3 cups fresh lime juice
1/2 cup mild honey
1/4 cup sugar

Puree melon, lime juice, honey and sugar in a food processor; add 1/4 cup water and puree until smooth. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium pitcher; strain, pressing on solids to extract puree. Divide among molds. Cover and freeze until firm.

Campari-Orange Pops

1/3 cup sugar
 1 3/4 cups fresh orange juice
1/3 cup Campari
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Bring sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Transfer syrup to a medium pitcher; chill until cold, about 1 hour. Stir orange juice, Campari and lemon juice into syrup. Divide among molds. Cover and freeze until firm.


As you can see by these recipes, you only need a small amount of any one ingredient and what a wonderful way to make use of that last bit of yogurt, or small amount of fruit or that last cup of champagne that sat overnight in the bottle.  You are only limited by your imagination to come up with heavenly combinations for your own version of paletas!