Strawberry Ice Pops - Better Than Store Bought! Recipe

"This is probably one of the most common paletas (Mexican word for Ice-Pops) - maybe because the flavor is so kid and adult-friendly. Regarding the strawberries; if you are lucky enough to get your hands on wild strawberries from Irapuato Mexico, you are in luck, otherwise, regular strawberries can be most definitely be used. Irapuato is known for its wild strawberries; they're a kinda wild strawberry that sweetens the air, and people travel from all over to get big baskets of them. If you are lucky enough to have access to these strawberries, which are smaller than those that you find at grocery stores but have an intensely concentrated sweet flavor. They are so good and also quite delicate, so they squish easily which is perfect for this recipe. Source: Paletta's cookbook."

Original recipe yields 8-10 servings

Metric US

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Ingredients

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4 cups strawberries (fresh, hulled and cut into quarters, preferably wild, but regular works fine too)
3/4 cup sugar (if not using Irapuato wild strawberries, taste for sweetness at the end and add additional if that's your thing)

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Nutritional

Serving Size: 1 (110.9 g)
Calories 115.7
Total Fat - 0.3 g
Saturated Fat - 0 g
Cholesterol - 0 mg
Sodium - 1.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate - 29.8 g
Dietary Fiber - 1.9 g
Sugars - 26.2 g
Protein - 0.6 g
Calcium - 5.9 mg
Iron - 0.2 mg
Vitamin C - 8.9 mg
Thiamin - 0 mg

Step by Step Method

Step 1

Combine the strawberries and sugar in a bowl. Let sit until the strawberries start releasing their natural juices, 20 - 30 minutes. Place in a saucepan with the water over medium heat.

Step 2

Simmer until they are slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

Step 3

Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor, add the lemon juice, and puree until smooth; alternatively, you could leave some chunks in if you like.

Step 4

If using conventional molds, divide the mixture among the molds, snap on the lid, and freeze until solid, about 5 hours.

Step 5

If using glasses (to the size that suits ice-pops) or other unconventional molds, freeze until the pops are beginning to set (1 1/2 - 2 hours), then insert the sticks and freeze until solid, 4 - 5 hours.