While ice cream has been around for centuries, the popsicle is a more recent invention. In 1905, when 11-year-old Frank Epperson accidentally left a mixture of powdered soda and water out on the freezing porch, he discovered it had frozen around the stir stick that was in the glass. He later named his invention the “popsicle”.
Whatever you want to call it – ice pop, ice lolly, icy pole or paleta – this treat on a stick is wonderfully refreshing and easy to reproduce at home. These food bloggers and authors share their favourite recipes.
The Classics
Gemma Stafford of Bigger Bolder Baking
“I love popsicles because you don’t have to follow exact measurements and ingredients like you generally have to do in most baking. Although I’m a rule-follower and generally okay with that (maybe that’s why I like baking), popsicles do not follow that same principle. You can leave out an ingredient if you don’t have it, or swap it out entirely for another one. If you don’t like lemonade, for example, use orange or cranberry juice!
“Fruit, yogurt, and juice make up the majority of these delicious and healthy treats. The smooth fruit purées are fresh and provide enough natural sugar for perfectly balanced sweetness. Once layered into your favourite ice pop mould and frozen for a minimum of five hours, my popsicle recipes are incredibly refreshing and guaranteed to keep you cool on any summer day.”
Pimm’s On A Stick
Nadia Roden and Cesar Roden of Ice Kitchen
“There’s something a little mischievous about turning a childhood treat into a strictly adult one. Our cocktail lollies, or ‘poptails’, are a fun new culinary experience – delicious, elegant, luxurious, playful and quirky. The idea for our book came about while I was experimenting with flavours and randomly dipped a watermelon ice lolly into a glass of rum to see how the flavours matched. While sucking the alcohol off the frozen lolly, I realised that this was something so special that I called Cesar right away to tell him how great it was.
“The fact that alcohol doesn’t like to freeze was a challenge, but this led to some unexpected and delicious solutions, such as using raisins or bits of fruit soaked in alcohol in the mixtures, and finding the alcohols that had stronger, more distinctive tastes, so that the flavour gave the feeling of alcohol when the content was low. But most of all, it led to the idea of dipping the poptails into a glass of well-matched alcohol, and this became a big part of the excitement.”
Green Monster Pops
Author Christine Chitnis
“When it comes to getting my daily greens, I’ll try just about anything. While I love big, crunchy, straight-from-the-garden salads, I also love blending my greens into smoothies. Sweet, creamy and refreshing, it only makes sense that a blended green smoothie would work perfectly in pop form.
“Feel free to experiment with the greens. I prefer spinach because the taste is very subtle, but Swiss chard and kale also work well, though their flavours are a bit more distinct. I love the sweetness of freshly made pineapple juice, though you can feel free to substitute ready-made juice. If you’re serving these to kids, play up the cool green colour, and before long, they’ll be slurping up their daily serving of health-infusing greens!”
Watermelon Margarita Popsicles
Natasha Bull of Salt & Lavender
“Margaritas are a summertime staple, and turning them into popsicles is even more fun! These watermelon margarita popsicles have all the delicious flavours of the tequila-based drink without added sugar. They only require four ingredients and freeze beautifully – the watermelon juice naturally settles to create a pretty gradient effect.”
Homemade Fruit Popsicles
Author and food scientist Jessica Gavin
“Popsicles are one of those nostalgic treats that kids and grown-ups can enjoy together. When making them at home, there’s more flexibility to add wholesome ingredients and switch up the flavour with each batch. My son not only loves eating them, he’s a great helper and likes to get hands-on in the kitchen with me. It’s a great way for kids to incorporate healthier foods into their diet, like seasonal fruits and vegetables. My family loves fruit popsicles, especially peach strawberry yogurt and minty watermelon flavours. They’re the perfect treat!”
Lava Flow Popsicles
Emily Dixon of One Lovely Life
“Homemade popsicles are a staple at our house during the summer. I love that we can use healthy ingredients, and they always turn out beautiful and delicious. These Lava Flow Popsicles are a perfect example – they have a creamy coconut layer swirled with fresh strawberry. The layers are gorgeous, and the flavours are even better!”
Strawberry And Matcha Popsicles
Kate Hackworthy of Veggie Desserts
“I enjoy matcha lattes made with almond milk in the mornings to give me an energy boost. I also like matcha’s complex flavour with grassy and sweet notes, so I turned this vegan favourite into an ice lolly that’s perfect for dessert or even breakfast. It’s packed with energising and metabolism-boosting matcha and bulked with oats to make a filling and nourishing frozen treat. Fresh strawberries add the finishing touch.”
