What is up with this New York heat?! These past few days have been the kind of weather that makes me want to wear as little clothing as possible and also do as little as possible. I just want to live in an ice cold swimming pool and maybe eat some ice cubes. OK, I don’t want to eat ice cubes. But my appetite has been a little suppressed by the heat; does anyone else ever find that heat manages to drive thoughts of food from their mind?
Luckily, it’s Popsicle Week!! And just in time, too. Popsicles seem like a nice, healthy balance between eating ice cubes and eating nothing at all. And they’re much tastier. Win.
These popsicles are super simple. They’re inspired by a: my love of strawberries, b: my love of rosé and c: my desire to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible these days. You simply puree strawberries, strain out any errant seeds and then mix the vibrant pink liquid with a bit of sugar, lemon, salt and rosé.
Salt helps define the sweetness of the strawberries, lemon gives these the tiniest bit of pucker and the rosé is sharply crisp and refreshing against the fruity berries. Once you’ve mixed it all together, simply pour the mixture into molds and let them freeze!
In as few as four hours, you can have homemade, adults-only popsicles. You can cool down, celebrate June (National Rosé day was June 10th, but don’t worry, the celebrations are ongoing) and also, if you are feeling really glamorous, you can dip these pops into glasses of rosé and redefine the word float.
Rosé pops. Frosé pops? They’re a thing now. Get to it.
Yields: 8 popsicles
Why I love this recipe: these ice pops are sweet and fruity and are flavored with a touch of celebratory pink rosè. Best of all, the refreshing pops take mere minutes to make. Serve dipped in glasses of rosè for an extra luxe treat.
Variation: try these with an equal amount of white wine if you don’t have rosè.
For the popsicles:
- 1 lb. strawberries, hulled, washed and dried
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons rosé wine
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Puree the strawberries in a blender until completely smooth.
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup; discard seeds and foam.
- Combine strained liquid with the sugar, rosé, lemon juice and salt. Mix until smooth.
- Divide strawberry mixture among ice-pop molds, leaving about 1″ space at the top. Freeze until slushy, about 1 hour.
- Cover molds, insert sticks, and freeze until ice pops are solid, at least 4 hours.
retrolillies 