By Elizabeth Stark
All winter and spring, I’ve been eyeing my popsicle molds as they collect dust on a high shelf in the cabinet. So as soon as warmer weather hit, I was ready to make some sweet frozen treats.
Popsicles are a favorite and not just because they’re so deliciously cold for the summer months, they’re also a fun (but simple) edible craft to make with kids. The little ones can easily help to mix the various layers, in addition to getting involved with pouring and freezing.
I love the traditional flavors of strawberries and cream, but wanted to change things up a bit and try an unexpected flavor combo. So I subbed sour cream in place of regular cream and added lots of lemon to boot; the results are every bit as creamy (maybe even more!) and have a distinct sweet and tangy flavor profile that’s slightly addictive. Pretty stripes aren’t at all necessary, but they do add a fun pop of visual interest to these strawberry popsicles.
Strawberries and Sour Cream Popsicles
Makes: 10 (2 1/2-ounce) popsicles
Equipment:
10 (2 1/2-ounce) popsicle molds
10 wooden popsicle sticks
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
- zest of 2 lemons, divided
- pinch sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
Directions:
1. To make the strawberry simple syrup used for the red stripes, combine granulated sugar with water. Cook over medium heat, just until sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool. Store any unused syrup in a jar in the fridge for lemonade or cocktails.
2. Set quartered strawberries in a blender and add 1/4 cup simple syrup, 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, zest of 1 lemon, and a pinch of sea salt. Blend until smooth.
3. Set the sour cream in a medium mixing bowl and whisk in 6 tablespoons simple syrup, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and the zest of 1 lemon.
4. To make popsicles with 4 diagonal stripes, divide half of the strawberry mixture between the popsicle molds (about 1-2 tablespoons per mold). Tilt slightly and freeze for 20 minutes. Next, divide half the sour cream mixture between the molds (about 1-2 tablespoons per mold), tilt, and freeze for 20 minutes more. Divide all the remaining strawberry mixture between the molds, insert popsicle sticks, tilt, and freeze for 20 minutes more. Finally, divide all remaining sour cream mixture between the molds, and freeze popsicles until solid, for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.
5. To unmold popsicles, run mold under very hot water for 10 seconds. Popsicles will keep well sealed in a zip-top bag in the freezer for 1 week.
Food , Recipes
