Strawberry-Balsamic Ice Pops

When summer temperatures soar, I can't seem to get enough Popsicles, ice cream, and frozen fruit pops. I rarely indulge in a lot of sweets anymore, but I admit that I'm a sucker for frozen desserts. When I saw the book People's Pops, I immediately ordered it with some ice pop trays, and made my own. I've played around with making lots of ice creams in the past but these are a bit different, are incredibly simple to make, and take almost no time to throw together (but then you have to wait 5 or 6 hours to indulge, so you need to plan ahead).

I adapted this recipe from the book by adding cream and not using lemon juice; the balsamic is definitely enough "sour" to brighten the flavor of the strawberries. I've enjoyed strawberry-balsamic ice cream the last couple of years, so felt the cream would give it a great consistency. There are 64 other fantastic and unique ice pop recipes in this book, many using herbs, some have booze, and many have unconventional fruits for ice pops, such as apples, canteloupe, and figs. I will definitely be using this book well into fall, as there are seasonal varieties, depending on what's in season.

People's Pops is an ice pop shop in New York City that is going like gangbusters. With recipes like this, I can totally see why.

Ingredients.

1 lb. strawberries, hulled
3/4 cup simple syrup (recipe below)
1/4 cup cream
3 TB balsamic, or to taste (the average supermarket variety is fine in this recipe)

Instructions.

Make the simple syrup several hours ahead by combining 2/3 cup water with 2/3 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved and liquid is transparent. Remove from heat and cool.

Put the strawberries, syrup, cream, and balsamic in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. (If you like bigger fruit chunks, don't completely puree.)

Pour the strawberry mixture into your fruit pop molds; leave a half-inch of room at the top for expansion. Insert the sticks and freeze for about 5 or 6 hours, or until solid.

To unmold, run some warm water over the outside edges of the molds for a few seconds and then lightly tug at the sticks until they release. Serve immediately, or put into freezer bags and freeze for later.

Makes 10 normal-sized frozen fruit pops.

Images.