These strawberry popsicles are so light and refreshing, especially with the addition of lemon juice and lemon zest.
Hot days require cool treats.
It’s already the end of May. Where does the time go?!
It has been HOT this week. I’m too cheap to turn on the air-conditioner. I hate seeing my electricity bills during the summer. Around mid-July or early August, I eventually cave in when the kitchen feels like a sauna. The air-conditioner will have to wait until them to make its appearance.
Instead I’m keeping cool with all these frozen goodies. I recently purchased a new popsicle mold and I LOVE it. I don’t know why I never got one before. I’m so glad I did. These popsicle molds will work hard this summer.
The lemon really helps to bring the strawberry flavor to life. Its best to use super ripe, fresh strawberries so you don’t have to add more sugar.
Luckily, I have lots of sweet strawberries that I bought up at the farms in Oxnard (see Strawberry Yogurt Mousse Cake, Strawberry Pie, and Strawberry Cupcakes for more strawberry recipes.)
I feel like popsicles are the cupcakes of summer. You see them everywhere. I’ve also noticed a recent trend with fancy artisanal frozen pops with interesting flavor combinations and unique fruits. Regardless of whether it’s a trend or not, popsicles are a mainstay that will be forever ingrained with hot summer days.
Strawberry Popsicles
Yield: makes 12 popsicles
Ingredients
- 2 pints fresh strawberries (about 1 1/2 pounds), hulled and sliced
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar (or more/less depending on sweetness of strawberries)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- finely grated zest from half a lemon
- optional: sliced kiwis, carrot-orange juice
Instructions
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In a bowl, combine sliced strawberries and sugar. Let sit for 10-15 minutes to allow strawberries to expel juice.
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In a food processor (or blender), combine strawberry-sugar mixture, lemon juice and lemon zest. Process until smooth.
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Pour strawberry puree into molds with wooden sticks and place in freezer.
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Freeze for at least 3 hours until popsicle is solid. To remove popsicles from mold, submerge mold into room temperature or slightly warm water for a couple of minutes. Remove from water and pull popsicles out.
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* If using kiwis, place a couple of sliced kiwis up against the inside of the mold. The kiwi should adhere to the sides. Then pour strawberry puree and freeze.
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* If adding carrot-orange juice, add after filling mold halfway with strawberry puree. Then freeze as normal.
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Arnhild
These look so delicious, and easy to make! I have one question. In step one, where you say to leave the strawberries until the have expelled juice, do you mean for one to discard the juice, or blend all of it together?
Maryanne
Combine the strawberries with the sugar and wait for strawberries to juice. Then blend everything together.
Ash
It’s too beautiful to bite into..
Maryanne
Its too tasty not to!
Karen
Summer just got a whole lot better! I can’t wait to try these. I’m tempted to even splurge on a juicer – the carrot orange part looks so good. Thanks!
Maryanne
Thanks, Karen! Packaged juices work great too. I really like Naked Juice’s products because they are just as fresh as juicing it yourself!
louise
I’ve never seen these trays for making popsicles, where can i get them?
Maryanne
I love these popsicles molds! I bought them from Amazon- here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-423-Ice-Pop-Maker/dp/B0002IBJOG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371693592&sr=8-2&keywords=popsicle+molds
Liv Kira Seitzberg
I’m certainly going to make this. Another question that I really hope you can answer, where did you get the plate with the little hearts, it’s such cute..
Maryanne
Aren’t they the cutest?! I wish I had bought more. I got them at a store called Daiso. Its a Japanese $1 store and I think they have a handful of locations scattered throughout California.
Genesis Rivas
This recipe looks amazing! Would you mind if we use this recipe for our local newspaper in Long Island NY, for our feature on “DIY Popsicles”? Of course you would be credited!