Push Pops

Everyone loves a good ice cold popsicle during these hot Summer days. In the past I have made various homemade popsicles, all from those purchased molds. And here is what I have concluded about them, the molds that is; they are a pain in the butt to wash, there is never enough of them, and they really don't work all that great, at least the ones I have had. So after reading an article on How to Make Homemade Bomb Pops by Amanda Clarke at Serious Eats, I thought I would try my hand at frozen pops again. The picture of the pointy pop in her article, reminded me of my huge supply of disposable pastry bags and I thought to myself that they could be my answer to the homemade popsicle conundrum. I have made stick pops and the pop falls off the stick or the kids eats them too slowly and they drip everywhere. But the pastry bags reminded me of a type of push pop I ate as a kid at school. The lunch lady would cut the tops off of these triangle shaped Italian Water Ices so that we could push them up while eating. What melted went to the bottom of the container and with the help of a napkin our hands would not get too cold. The pastry bags worked like a charm.


I folded the pastry bags over large plastic cups and filled them with a strawberry smoothie mixture, recipe below. These are the triangular pastry bags that still have a point, they are not open, just in case you were wondering or hoping I was that dumb! I placed the cups in the freezer over night then cut the plastic off down to the top of the pop. I wrapped the Push Pops with a napkin and gave them to the kids. No mess, although Littleness did pop hers out across the table once. But it was replaced easily with no tears.


I popped the rest in a zip-top bag to store in the freezer for future Push Pop experiences. Here is the recipe I used. You can use what ever you want for these as well. Come up with something stronger for the adults too if you want. And no stinkin' molds to wash.

Strawberry Push Pops
2 pounds strawberries, washed and hulled
sugar to taste, I used steevia
water

You may need to do this in two batches, I did. Fill a blender halfway up with strawberries. Pour water halfway up the berries. Blend until smooth, add a little sugar at a time and blend. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Fill pastry bags 1/3 full with the smoothie mixture. Freeze. Makes about 6-7 Push Pops.