Finally! We moved, but it’s not all smooth sailing yet. We’re living out of boxes and we don’t have a kitchen yet. While our perfect kitchen is being built (which we will be talking about soon), I’m going to have to get crafty. I do have many plug-in appliances (rice cooker, toaster oven, panini press, waffle maker, microwave, etc.) so we’re still going to have a ball here. I think we’re going to be pleasantly surprised with how much I (or you) can do without a kitchen. (Gulp) Determined to eat well every single day without exceptions, here goes…

Before the string of cold days, we had some wonderful hot days, and that’s when I started thinking about one of my favorite summer treats. I am such a huge fan of ice cream and gelato, but occasionally, I want something lighter. Starting in high school, I would often grab FrozFruits at the delis nearby. Chunky Strawberry was/is my favorite.

Recently, I was ready to grab a Chunky Strawberry and I thought to check the ingredients. Yup, it’s made with high fructose corn syrup! That was it, I would have to make my own. I wanted to maintain what I do love about it though, the very strawberry flavor (deceptively natural), the chunks of strawberries in it, and the cool satisfying feeling it left me with every time. I made special care to keep all parts of the bargain and the result was better than I could have hoped for.

Very Strawberry

You’ll see that I put a little bit of condensed milk in this recipe. It won’t taste creamy though and I’m pretty sure no one will be able to guess that it’s in there. It was such a random chance that I would discover what a great mix-in it is. It just thickens it to the perfect consistency. I don’t even know why I decided to and actually once I did, I was immediately regretting it, thinking, what the heck am I doing? But, then it all turned out great and I was so relieved.

Also, I decided not to buy ice pop molds, and to me the paper cups and spoons works just fine. Feel free to use this recipe in your ice pop molds though.

cropped Sabrina and ice pop

That’s my adorable niece, Sabrina, modeling my ice pops! I should have taken more photos of Sophia (my brother’s girlfriend) who ate 4, I think.

Very Strawberry Ice Pops
~12 to 13 small ice pops

  • 6 cups strawberry halves (hulled)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
  • 12 to 13 (3oz) paper cups

Instructions –

1. Toss strawberries with sugar in a large bowl. Set aside to macerate for 1 hour.

2. Reserve 1 1/2 cups strawberry halves and chop these into 1/2″ to 3/4″ pieces. They can be inconsistent. Set aside.

3. Put the rest of the strawberries in a food processor. Process until smooth.

processing strawberries

4. Pour through a strainer into a large bowl. Discard seeds.

straining strawberry puree

5. Stir in lemon juice, condensed milk, and cut strawberry pieces.

very berry strawberry mixture 3 very berry strawberry mixture 2

6. Divide among 12 to 13 (3oz) paper (wax lined) cups (i.e. Dixie cups). Put a small spoon in each. I used small metal spoons but you can also use sturdy plastic spoons. Freeze overnight or until solid.

strawberry ice pop mixture in cups

7. Peel the cups off before serving.

Very Berry Strawberry Ice Pops 7

posted by jessica at 08:24 AM Filed under Desserts, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.