Don’t forget! You have until Noon (EST) on Monday, July 7th to enter the contest to win your very own copy of Krystina Castella’s Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone. Simply follow this link and leave a comment. It couldn’t be easier.
Growing up popsicles were simple affairs. Since my favorite color was and still is purple I would only eat grape popsicles. This meant our freezer was usually well stocked with cherry, lime, and orange until I got hard up enough to eat the other flavors. If I ever made homemade ice pops I did so covertly using Mountain Dew (I’m losing my mind a little just thinking about this) and an ice cube tray studded with toothpicks. As I’ve mentioned before I was a kitchen sneak. Occasionally I also attempted to recreate pudding pops in pastel Dixie cups but they never tasted as good as the ones Bill Cosby urged us to beg our moms for during Saturday morning cartoons. Unfortunately this led me to really not care for traditional popsicles at all.
But then I discovered Krystina Castella’s new book: Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone (published by Quirk Books) and simply put I’m absolutely blown away by the fantastic liberties she has taken with what is generally considered by the vast majority of families as a frozen grape juice concoction topped off with a craft stick. Please believe me when I say that you have never seen popsicles like this before. These pops are multi-layered, full of complex flavors, and truly unique ingredient blends.
The table of contents includes sections on: Healthy Energy Pops, Fruit Juice Pops, Soda Fountain Pops, Cream and Pudding Pops, Coffee and Tea Pops, and Cocktail Pops. The “Cocktail Pops” section in particular caught my eye since it includes a Mojito Pop and I’ve been on a huge mojito kick lately. Other pops I can’t wait to test out include Sweet Martini Pops, Thai Iced Coffee Pops, and Sugar Pumpkin Pops. I don’t know about you, but Summer just got about twenty times more exciting for me! In the introduction to the cookbook Krystina mentions the term “kidults” and how popsicles fit right into this cupcake buying, toy loving, crafty “grown-up” lifestyle. I couldn’t agree more.
Please stay tuned for “Popsicle Week” on ErinCooks.com and my recreation of a few of Krystina’s amazing treats. You’ll have to bare with me. I had to order popsicle molds from Amazon and I’m impatiently awaiting their arrival. The Kitchn recently posted an excellent article on summer popsicle molds and I purchased several of these items. If you are lucky enough to already own molds than please feel free to dive right in and check out the accompanying cookbook website appropriately called IcyPops.com for ideas and recipes.