Popsicle

I had a recipe for pecan paletas in my first cookbook, My Sweet Mexico, but I’m including a different version here because this flavor is one of my favorites. These ice pops are a bit sweeter and creamier than the ones in My Sweet Mexico because they’re made with sweetened condensed milk and half-and-half. Both versions are really delicious, and I’m still debating which I like best. It’s hard to find pecan extract here, but if you come across some, I recommend adding 1 teaspoon along with the vanilla for an even deeper nutty flavor.

In Mexico, chocolate is mainly used to prepare hot chocolate, so when you hear people say “Mexican chocolate,” or chocolate de mesa, they usually mean chocolate made for this purpose. It’s grainy because it’s basically toasted ground cocoa mixed with sugar, cinnamon, and sometimes vanilla, almonds, or both. I really love the fragrance of Mexican cinnamon, so I like to infuse some in the liquid for this ice pop to add more flavor. I decided to add little bits of chocolate and almonds to these paletas to give another layer of flavor and crunchiness. Who doesn’t love that?

Coconut is one of the most popular paleta flavors, so I decided to include two coconut ice pop recipes in this book. This quick version is very creamy and sure to be a crowd-pleaser. It’s inspired by a coconut paleta I had when I last visited the wonderful state of Campeche. It was a very hot day and I desperately needed to cool off, so I had a coconut paleta. It was an unusual choice for me, but I was convinced because the man selling it said that it had toasted shredded coconut mixed in; I thought the nutty flavor and lovely crunchiness of the toasted coconut went wonderfully with the rich, smooth coconut base.

Passion fruit really lives up to its name, and its incomparable flavor becomes even more sublime in this paleta, where its tartness cuts through the richness of the creamy base. If you’re lucky enough to find fresh ripe passion fruit, buy it, because you can always store the puree in the freezer. To use passion fruit, simply cut it in half and scoop out the flesh. Otherwise, look for frozen passion fruit pulp in ethnic or specialty markets, as well as online, making sure that what you buy is just pulp, with no sugar added. If you want a little crunch and texture, use the passion fruit seeds.

The Greek-style yogurt provides a creamy consistency for this paleta, so you’ll have a rich mouthfeel without any of the guilt. This combination is really quite classic, but feel free to replace the blackberries with any other berry. If you want a marbled paleta, put the blackberries in a blender and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar to taste (just a little sweet) and whirl. Pour the mixture into the molds after adding the yogurt mixture, swirling with a skewer while you pour (see page 42).

Sangrita, a spiced tomato drink served as a chaser for tequila, inspired this delicious paleta. For the sweetest and tastiest ice pops, make this recipe when tomatoes are at the peak of their season. To make the tomato puree, just remove the stems from perfectly ripe tomatoes, trim the tomatoes if needed, rinse them, then process in a blender or food processor.

Donají is a delicious traditional beverage in the state of Oaxaca, named after a Zapotec princess. The exact ingredients of this cocktail vary, but typically it contains mezcal and orange juice and is served in a glass rimmed with sal de gusano, a powdered combination of chiles, salt, and roasted gusano, a caterpillar that lives on the agave plant. It may sound strange, but it is so good. If you ever travel to Oaxaca, you must try it. Although I haven’t seen donají offered as a paleta flavor anywhere, I think it’s only a matter of time, because the combination is delicious.

This definitely isn’t a common flavor of paletas in Mexico! It’s inspired by one of the first desserts that wowed me as a child—and my favorite dessert for years: cherries jubilee. My extended family and I were on a cruise, and one night all the waiters came out to make cherries jubilee, flambéing the cherries tableside, then serving them over vanilla ice cream. It was quite a theatrical spectacle to see all the elegant waiters simultaneously come out of nowhere with their carts. I was more impressed by the amazing flavors than the dramatic flair. Back then, I was too young to know the word sublime, but that’s definitely how I felt when I ate it. In this version, sour cream replaces the vanilla ice cream. Its tart flavor complements the sweet cherries deliciously.

In Mexico, fruit and chiles are often found together: in fruit stands, where ground chiles are sprinkled over freshly cut fruit; in fruit-flavored lollipops covered with ground chiles; and in many different ice pops. The spiciness in these ice pops comes from a chile-infused syrup and chunks of fresh pineapple tossed with ground chiles, so they have different layers of flavor and spiciness.

Mexicans can never have enough limes. We put them in everything, so it’s no surprise that this flavor of paleta is one of the top three sellers everywhere. For this recipe, try to use the smaller limes, similar to Key limes, as they’re a little more tart. That said, these ice pops will be delicious with any lime juice as long as it’s freshly squeezed.

I can’t remember where I first tasted apricots and chamomile together, only that it was in a tart. I loved the combination so much that I decided to make a paleta inspired by it. The natural sweetness of the apricots is enhanced by cooking, and their slight acidity complements the subtle, fragrant flavor of the chamomile. Perhaps it’s a combination that is meant to be, since they’re in season at farmers’ markets at the same time.

Hibiscus is a flavor that you could say is quintessentially Mexican. Hibiscus paletas are widely available, but not with raspberries. My friend Hannah thought these two flavors would be awesome together, and she was right. (Thanks, Hannah!) We spent a lot of time figuring out different ways to blend the two flavors: cooking the berries in a bit of the agua de jamaica, macerating or mashing them together, and using frozen versus fresh berries. I kept experimenting and found that mixing the raspberries with the sugar and letting them sit for a while helped draw out their juices. Then, when you pour in the agua de jamaica, the juices blend, so you get both flavors in every bite.

These incredibly refreshing paletas are quite easy to make. In Mexico, they typically include the watermelon seeds, which are blended along with the flesh, but feel free to use a seedless melon or remove the seeds if you prefer.

My childhood friend, Dan, loves grapefruit paletas and he kept asking me when La Newyorkina would have them available at the market. They did make a short appearance there, but I also promised I would include this recipe in the book. These slightly bitter ice pops are incredibly refreshing. I prefer to use Ruby Red grapefruit juice because it tends to be a bit sweeter and has a prettier color.

I love that time near the end of summer when a walk through the market is filled with the smell of sweet juices, drawing you toward the big mountains of melons! For the sweetest paletas, pick melons that smell quite fragrant when you hold them close to you.

A few hours outside of Mexico City lies the lakeside town of Valle de Bravo. Many people escape there for the weekend to get some fresh air and enjoy the lake and the chilly mornings in the mountains. We had some family friends who had a country house there. What I looked forward to most when we visited were the incredible wild blackberries, bursting with juice and with a slight tartness that I loved. I always had blackberry smoothies for breakfast and as many of these paletas as I could get. In this recipe, the mixture isn’t strained. Part of the awesomeness is enjoying the little seeds in every bite.

This is probably one of the most common paletas—maybe because the flavor is so kid- and adult-friendly. Strawberry paletas have been my brother’s favorite since he was a kid. The best strawberries in Mexico are from Irapuato; they’re a kind of wild strawberry that sweetens the air, and people travel from all over to get big baskets of them. If you are lucky enough to have access to wild strawberries, which are smaller than those that you find at grocery stores but have intensely concentrated sweet flavor, please use them to make these paletas. They are so good and also quite delicate, so they squish easily—perfect for our purposes.