PRIDE Pops!

In honor of this weekend's (historic) Pride Festival, I had to make some rainbow pops! I was pressed for time, it was quite the jam packed weekend. And while it was perfect pop consumption weather, it was not pop making weather. The sunshine was not conducive to staying inside blending, pureeing, measuing and the like! So I went for simple.

A RAINBOW LEMONADE pop. Easy, festive and fun. I hope everyone had a great weekend! I'm currently brainstorming some yummy red white and blue pops for next weekend, feel free to weigh in.

Art Inspired Pops

After taking in the beauty of Caitlin McGauley's *pop* art (below), I deemed her pops good enough to eat.  I decided to use her painting as aesthetic inspiration for some new pops. I started with the top left and decided to make KIWI LIMEADE. I used a combination of fresh squeezed lime (my citrus squeezer is by far my favorite kitchen gadget) and bottled lime juice. I thinly sliced the kiwis and affixed them to the sides of the Zoku mold (both front and back). Voila! Tangy, art-inspired pops.

Next I chose the black white and pink pop (second from the right, bottom row). I decided to make CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT RASPBERRY pops. The chocolate is pudding (reduced sugar) blended with a little water (so its pourable). I made the white from greek yogurt and hazelnut extract (the pop on the left has a chopped hazelnut layer). The raspberry layer is simply pureed raspberries (with a little water for blending). I am very pleased with my first attempt at a rich dessert pop. It's both healthy(ish) and beautiful! Which pop should I replicate next? 

Watercolor Pops!

I ADORE this watercolor print by Caitlin McGauley featured today on the Lonny blog! I love Caitlin's fresh, bright illustrations and instantly recognized her work from Kate Spade.  Please leave links to any other *pop* art in the comments section.

Frozen Florals

To be honest, edible flowers aren't terribly delectable, perhaps piquant at best (I apologize to my mother who detests the phrase "to be honest.") In fact, in perparing these pops I discovered that certain varietals smell of unnamed illicit substances. Clearly this batch of pops had purely aesthetic inspiration. But c'mon, they're adorable. These ORANGE AND BLUEBERRY YOGURT pops, despite their vain inspiration, are quite delicious! They're sweet and creamy and taste (almost) as good as they look.

Lazy Pops

I adore frozen grapes. They're the perfect texture and the perfect amount of cold, refreshing sweetness. I remember washing and carefully removing all trace of vine before freezing them by the cupful. Unfortunately I also remember great animosity when my sister regularly stole the *fruits* of my labor. 

Here, I have SKEWERED RED AND GREEN GRAPES (in varied color patterns) for a virtually prep-free pop.

Savor the...savory.

I figured out what is missing in my repertoire of previous pops. They are sweet. Deliciously sweet, yes. But where is the diversity, where are the savory pops? 

I was a little nervous about my foray into the world of savory. I decided to start small. MANGO CHILI LIME came to mind. Still sweet and fruity but tempered with sour and spicy notes. My initial taste-test (pre-freeze) was unsatisfactory, way too heavy on the chili. But cold dampens flavor, right? So I went ahead and froze them anyway. Dr. Cornelius gave his tasting a rave review. We do have nearly identical palettes (except his inexplicable love of the banana bully and hatred of baby corn). So, I am reluctantly looking forward to tasting my own spicy, sweet sample.

The Crawl Continues

After indulging in a delectable late lunch at Snack Taverna, I was rather full. But I put on a brave face, pushed through my satiety and made room for a popsicle. After all, I have a duty to inform my public. Or something. And I was eager to continue my NYC popsicle crawl following yesterday's über successful tasting at People's Pop.

My mother and I meandered our way through a few charming West Village side streets and arrived at our destination, popbar.

The popbar storefront, on the bustling corner of Carmine and 6th, is modern and sparse. There is little room to loiter and lick, as it were, much less stand in line. The storefront lacked the homey charm of People's Pop. Conversely, it felt corporate and impersonal.


I did enjoy the large selection of pops colorfully inhabiting the vast display case.  The pops fall into three categories: yogurt, sorbetto and gelato. There are also several add-ons called  "poppings". As someone who revels in her sprinkles (rainbow of course) more than the fro-yo they colorfully adorn, I understood the appeal.

I chose MANDARIN on the recommendation of the young woman at the register (I was having great difficulty deciding among grapefruit, mandarin and pineapple, all "sorbetto"). No poppings. In addition to being full, I was more interested in the essence of the pop, not the accoutrements.

The pop was good. Just good. I enjoyed the zesty mandarin flavor. The pop wasn't particularly firm, making it easier to bite into, a quality some might enjoy. I do not. Because then... it was gone, just like that. And I have to say, unlike yesterday's delightful, long-lasting strawberry rhubarb specimen, I didn't really miss it.