What if summer’s best moments could be frozen in time?
Picking berries…
Running barefoot through tall grass…
Dancing in sun and water alike…
The smallest nibble of Paletas delivers a slush of ripe berries, sunshine, and laughter – about as close as I’ve ever gotten to capturing the glitter of the season… a frozen treat straight from Latin America and as precious as these Mexican garnets…
A raspberry-red, compound grossular garnet, surrounded by smaller garnets and tannish-yellow vesuvianite crystals. Found at the Lake Jaco deposit, Mexico. Rob Lavinsky / iRocks.com
… but with much more color.
Seriously. These are lovelier than any gemstone…
The story behind these paletas is a simple one: I was looking for something my daughter could share with her classmates for her birthday celebration.
Keith and I wanted to bring something nutritious and festive. She wanted something sweet and summery (she’s a July 4th baby after all). Meanwhile, some of her classmates are lactose intolerant and gluten-free.
The happy solution came in the form of raspberry hibiscus paletas… a Latin-American recipe adapted from Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops, Shaved Ice & Aguas Frescas.
You don’t need much.
Freshly brewed hibiscus tea.
A mound of crimson raspberries tossed with just enough sugar to take out the pucker.
Traditionally, paletas are frozen in popsicle form (palos means “stick”).
Photo by Arnold Gatilao.
I considered making popsicles in paper cups, but didn’t have room in my skinny freezer to store them all. Four stores and several online searches later, I found Zipzicles.
A classroom’s-worth of these thin ice pops easily fits in my freezer.
The process is simple enough: blend all the ingredients and strain the seeds out. Then we used a funnel to add the liquid to the narrow bags and zipped them shut.
Freeze overnight.
While you wait you can sleep under a Mexican sky.
Guanajuato, Mexico at night. Photo by Thomas Castelazo.
Ava carried the treats to school in a tub filled with ice.
Look how proud she is.
I brought mini banana muffins, too – just in case. But only two classmates chose the muffins.
That says it all, don’t you think?
Your turn.
I’d like to offer you a chance to make some frozen ice pops with your loved ones. Thanks to Zipzicles, one reader will win a Summer Prize Pack.
Summer Prize Pack
3 x 36 Zipzicle® ice pop pouches
(that’s a total of 108 pouches, just like the ones I used)
2 x 4-packs of colorful Zipzicle Neoprene Sleeves (to keep tiny fingers from freezing)
Enter to Win: (A Winner has been selected)
Leave a comment and tell me what flavor you’d like to put in your Zipzicle. Would you go with fresh fruit and tea, or banana with coconut milk, or perhaps a boozy grown up version?
A winner will be chosen randomly and announced by June 24, 2015.
Good luck!
UPDATE: Congratulations, Cindi W! Enjoy making frozen treats with your Zipzicles Summer Prize Pack!
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 18 people | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 5 minutes | 8 hours |
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Paletas are wonderful Latin American treats. Our raspberry hibiscus paletas is high in antioxidants and vitamin C, and remains a tad tart (I like a bit of pucker in my berry desserts). However, if you have a sweet tooth try adding up to one additional cup of sugar - tasting bit-by-bit so as to not accidentally overdo it.
As written, the recipe makes approximately 7 1/2 cups after straining and easily fills 18 Zipzicles.
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- 30 oz raspberries (5 cups)
- 4 cups hibiscus tea (brewed, extra-strength)
- 1 cup sugar (or more, as desired)
- Brew the tea nice and strong. For this recipe, I use 6 tea bags. Add the sugar to the hot tea, stirring until dissolved.
- Add the raspberries and warm tea to the blender. Process together with the berries until smooth.
- Strain out the seeds. Pour remaining liquid to Zipzicles (or other molds) using a funnel.
- Freeze in a thin layer overnight (if you stack them on top of each other the freezing process may take twice as long).
In a hurry? Simply macerate the berries in the sugar and tea, leaving the seeds and several lumps. This is quite traditional as well.
These sound so refreshing…and easy to make. Love anything with hibiscus! And the Zipzicles…great find too.
Just made a sorbet with fresh sweet cherries, sugar, a splash of almond extract and some lemon juice that was delightful and would make a great Paletas
I might go with your recipe or maybe….mango chili? Love the zip pop bags.
I love this idea! Mango Chili- hmmm or maybe a chocolate chili – that would be amazing.
Earl grey tea and strawberries!
Crushed blueberries with cardamom. I think I saw that combination somewhere on your website 🙂
Maybe (and this could get complicated) layers? Bright yellow pineapple, raspberry, and finally blueberry/mint on top!
How cool!!! Love these! I love the idea of fruit and tea, so I’d try to fill them with something similar!! Now I wish I’d seen this earlier – were making cupcakes tonight for Isabel’s class – so predictable 😉 but the kids still love to help 🙂
Oh my goodness!! Yes!! Yes!!! Yes!! We are trying to go low-sugar for my son because he’s super active and this is a perfect treat for him. I think I’d try a version of this (I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of hibiscus tea) but add bananas to sweeten instead of sugar- or maybe stevia? I need this!
I’ve thought of ordering zipzicles so many times! I’d do a version with mango, lime & chili or possibly strawberry & basil.
I love this! I’m all about the grown-up booze-cicles… a watermelon mojito sounds good right now!
I would love to try your recipe in these or an adult version with a little bit of alcohol.
We’ll make peach and berry ‘cicles.
We have a paletas store in town that makes an awesome milky chai paleta that I would love to try to make at home!
I’d go with a tropical vibe…banana purée with cocnut milk and pineapple chunks. Some orange zest to cut back the super sweetness. Take frozen pop, place in tall glass, pour a bit of white rum on top for a grown up treat. Those zipzicles would be awesome for our family!
Oh I NEED these!! Any smoothie or sorbet recipe would be so good. I’m thinking farmer’s market peaches!
I like the idea of fruit and tea…but a grown up mixture might be really good too!
Sasha you idea is just brilliant. These Zipzicles are neat. Very convenient for a classroom full of kids indeed. Can I request a Cinnamon Orange Zipzicle or Cinnamon Apple Zipzicle? I am thinking make cinnamon stick Tea, then mix Orange or Apple and a dash of honey, strain like you did and fill. Since Cinnamon dulls the sugar high you can maintain the sweetness. A win win for all. By the way the photos of Ava are so nicely done.
Wow, what fun! If I don’t win, I’m definitely buying some of these. In fact I have a potluck this weekend so I’m going to check our excellent kitchen store today. Flavor I’d make is passionfruit, there’s not nearly enough passionfruit flavored items in the US. The seeds would look pretty cool too.
I’d go with something pineapple. I’m open to suggestions, but my boys just love pineapple, pineapple juice, and anything related. I find the juice way too sweet for my liking. I love the Zipzicle idea!
I would put my bits of leftover smoothie in it in the mornings to save for an afternoon snack!
Mango and rum.
I was so excited to see your give away offer! I had checked them out on Amazon before I even read thru the e-mail. I would initially use your printed recipe, then try others.
Fresh cherry, watermelon, and a bit of peppermint and basil essential oils. Sounds weird but its good!
Honeydew cucumber mint?
I would make something tropical like pineapple-mango or something different like chamomile-chocolate.
oh, something with coconut and strawberries! (and maybe some rum)
Pineapple coconut sounds really good to me. I like the idea of fruit with basil or mint too though. Yum!!
iced coffee or margarita popsicles sound awesome right about now !
I’m on a big fruity tea kick right now, so I would do sweet orange tea mixed with fresh strawberries.
I would definitely do something for the kids-watermelon or grape?!
Banana raspberry for the grandson – he would love these!
I love lemon and blueberry together, so I’d try a lemon, blueberry and mint. yum!
Passion fruit and pineapple or strawberry and ruhbarb, just made rhubarb and cream with vanilla..
I would love to try your raspberry hibiscus flavor! We’ve never had that before.
We’re all about lemon everything right now! Zipcicles are great for my family managing life-threatening food allergies. Safe, homemade popsicles, yeah!
I just read about a pudding made with condensed milk, lemon juice and yogurt–I think that would make an excellent zip uncle. And for grown ups, some ginger beer mixed with a bit of gin.
The raspberry hibiscus sounds great! How about raspberry lemon? Mango lime ginger (makes a great sorbet!)? Cantaloupe mint?
Yum! These look delicious! I would do something with coconut, my favorite flavor:)
I have a big summer event coming up–Mom’s 90th. It would be fun/fine to have these on hand. I’m thinking lemonade, raspberry lemonade, and maybe mint green tea.
Elijah, at 4 1/2, still wants Very Vanilla Silk (soy milk) in a sippy cup at bedtime. I wonder if I made him Silk Pops if it would break him of the sippy habit but still give him the bedtime soy milk?
Would have to be chocolate or a blueberry yogurt. My son’s favorites
Congratulations, Cyndi W – you won!! Send me an email to claim your prize: http://globaltableadventure.com/contact/
Mango with Chamoy! Yum!
I want to try Blackberry Mint – with fresh picked blackberries!
I’m on a big lemonade kick right now, so maybe fresh-squeezed lemonade with raspberries or blackberries?
Lychee or Mango tea Zipcicles sound good! And perfect size for my small freezer, too!
I’d try a combination of mango and yogurt, like a lassi popsicle, or mixed berries. Love the idea of raspberry with hibiscus, too!
Hmm, I don’t see my initial response! Maybe I left it in the wrong place (FB). Soooo, my flavor idea is mango with a squeeze of lime.
I think I’d try a coconut mango!
Watermellon mint
I’ve always been drawn to rootbeer popsicles, but our Raspberries are going great this year so a Raspberry Guava Nector would be my choice.