Watermelon Popsicles

During the move, I came across these cute little Martha Stewart popsicle molds that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law so generously gave me for my wedding shower last year, and I finally decided it was time to try them out.

I remembered an episode of "Giada at Home" on the Food Network in which she made watermelon popsicles with vodka, and I happened to have a bunch of watermelon around the house... more than the two of us would be able to eat.  It was only $3.99 per melon (not per lb!), so of course I had bought the biggest and heaviest one I could find.  So inspired by Giada, I decided to make watermelon popsicles.

As usual I looked up a bunch of recipes online and put them together (I can never follow a recipe exactly) and decided to omit the vodka the first time around (but I'm definitely trying it in the near future).

Here is the recipe I came up with:

2 c diced watermelon
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 c strawberry banana juice (just b/c I had some in my fridge at the time)

I also quartered a bunch of strawberries and macerated them in a little bit of sugar and set them aside.

Blend all but the strawberries together in a blender until smooth, then pour into the molds leaving about a half an inch at the top.  Plop a bunch of strawberry pieces in at the end and insert the sticks into the molds (pictured above).  Set them in the freezer for about 4-6 hours.  To remove the popsicles from the mold, run them briefly under warm water until they loosen.  Here is the final product:

Patrick's verdict:  Too watermelon-y.  Go figure.
My verdict:  OK, I admit, too watermelon-y, but also a little too solid.  It was too much like sucking on an ice cube.

There are these amazing Breyers Popsicles that we regularly buy from the store and they melt just perfectly - nice and soft.  I looked at the label and it was mostly just fruit puree, fruit juice, water, and corn syrup.  So maybe the secret is corn syrup.  Or maybe the problem is that watermelon is water-based and therefore freezes solid like water.  I'm going to experiment with other fruit and would suggest pureeing the strawberries instead of leaving them whole.  And I will definitely try the addition of alcohol (margarita popsicles anyone?)  But next I think I'm going to make Patrick's suggestion: Dr. Pepper popsicles.

oo,