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.
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