Fruit Popsicles

We eat a wide variety of fruits here, but lately the addition of our own berries in the yard and those from our CSA share have challenged even us to keep up.  Today I found myself with a counter full of small containers of black raspberries and gooseberries, a couple of rapidly browning bananas, a couple of limes, and some frozen organic strawberries.  Our first real heat wave had me thinking of smoothies, but then I remembered the popsicle mold that came home a couple of months ago…

Years ago, working in a factory that had no air-conditioning, I discovered that fruit can make a huge difference in extreme heat.  Later when we worked long days in costume at a renaissance festival, strawberry and banana smoothies saved us on many afternoons. 

There have been a lot of pictures and recipes for fresh fruit popsicles showing up on the various social media sites lately, but the thought of whole chunks of frozen fruit molded into a solid form, while beautiful, in reality seems like it would be messy.  I got out the blender instead.

The basic “recipe” was 2 small bananas, a generous handful of frozen strawberries, an equally generous handful of mixed wild berries, and about 1/4 lime (rind and all).  About 1/4 cup of water was added to help the blender, but that probably wasn’t necessary.  It was good, though.

The resulting fruity goop was naturally sweet and thick.  It poured easily into the molds.  The part that didn’t fit into the mold was delicious, and the tiny chunks of lime rind were really a nice addition – as were the tiny fruit seeds.

Into the freezer for a few hours, and the popsicles were ready.  Delicious! 

This is definitely something I’ll be doing all summer, but the popsicle molds probably won’t be a part of it.  Reusable lidded cups would work much better for us.  We’re all adults, and it is murder getting those molds to let go without pulling the stick out.

Peaches will soon be ready, and all of the luscious summer fruits – melons, berries, nectarines, pineapple… I can’t think of a fruit that wouldn’t work.  Herbs could be added too, but for the most part concentrated infusions in place of the water used above seem that they’d be best.  Give it a try if you find you have leftover fruit.  The banana gives it a creamier texture without overwhelming the flavor of the other fruits.