"Summer is awesome. Popsicles are awesome. Everything is awesome!"
For real, who doesn鈥檛 love popsicles? When offered they may tell you 鈥渙h no, I don鈥檛 like grape鈥 (it鈥檚 awful) or 鈥渆h, I don鈥檛 like cherry鈥 (door鈥檚 over there) but 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like popsicles?鈥 I鈥檝e never heard it.
They鈥檙e perfect on a summer day and easy. So easy I couldn鈥檛 resist making them difficult. And what better way to do that than to feature an ingredient that doesn鈥檛 freeze? Cocktails, like popsicles, don鈥檛 leave a lot of room for ingredients 鈥 you only have a small amount of space to create a story of flavors. A well-crafted cocktail is the product of much experimentation and a deep understanding of how different flavors interact.
So you make a list. Break it down into liquor type, sweeteners, and additives. I like the visual guide of drawing a line from left to right to form a drink/pop. You don鈥檛 have to do it this way, but with so many possibilities, an outline helps.
Here鈥檚 how this particular entry is going to work: there isn鈥檛 really any actual cooking involved with making most cocktails or popsicles. Each flavor will list the ingredients and a description of how those flavors come together. Each one uses a good amount of simple syrup as its base and primary sweetener. Freezing diminishes sweetness so what may taste unbearably sweet as a liquid will become much more balanced when frozen. Strong, assertive liqueurs work best since there is only a small amount in each batch.
Finally, the most important and finite ingredient for making any sort of frozen dessert is time. You simply can鈥檛 have enough of it. You have to freeze the liquid in the molds, then remove them and allow them to set in their packaging, then let them set again before serving. There are methods and equipment to do all of this much faster (industrial freezers, liquid nitrogen, etc), resulting in a much more consistent product, but those are not all that accessible for home cooking. So for my purposes and yours, I鈥檒l keep it old school and do it the hard way.
As far as credit where it鈥檚 due, a great deal of my knowledge and appreciation for mixing drinks comes from Death & Co. The bar and the book are master classes in building a drink from its ingredients to its name.
Special Equipment
- Citrus Juicer 鈥 I use the KitchenAid attachment
- Popsicle Molds 鈥 I like the Norpro 3 oz molds
- Time 鈥 hope you鈥檝e got a lot of it
- Simple Syrup 鈥 bring 1:1 sugar and water to boil (don鈥檛 stir) to dissolve sugar, cool
鈥淩ICKY SPANISH鈥
This is more or less a classic margarita with an extra boost of citrus from some fresh squeezed orange juice. It was one of the easier recipes to develop since tequila is so assertive and retains so much flavor after mixing and freezing that I didn鈥檛 need to worry much over the mix being too alcoholic to freeze solid. The name is homage to Roger the Alien (from American Dad) and one of his more nefarious alter egos.
Yield 鈥 about 500mL
- 177mL simple syrup
- 118mL water
- 118mL lime juice
- 59mL fresh orange juice
- 22mL tequila blanco
- 1 陆 tsp agave nectar
Stir all to combine. Fill molds and freeze overnight.
鈥淛ECHT SHOT鈥
The Jecht Shot is one of the first drinks my friends and I came up with years ago using what ingredients we had on hand that day. In this embarrassing case those ingredients were Peach Snapple and coconut rum, and its name comes from a video game! In recent years, I've given the drink the 2.0 treatment. White tea is less bitter when frozen so I like it more than black tea. Massenez is a brand of brilliantly crafted liqueurs that retain nearly their entire flavor when frozen and are so strong a tiny bit will do the job.
Yield 鈥 about 562mL
- 296mL white tea
- 177mL simple syrup
- 30mL Massenez Cr猫me de Peche (peach liqueur)
- 60mL lemon juice
- 15mL coconut rum
Stir all to combine. Fill molds and freeze overnight.
鈥淕IN LIZZY鈥
When a friend (the 鈥淟iz鈥 in 鈥淕in Lizzy鈥) asked me to create a gin drink she鈥檇 like I was lost for a little while because I hated gin. That is, until I learned how to use it. In this case less is definitely more. Lots of herbal notes from the gin, boosted just a tiny bit by some basil syrup, and balanced out by lots of lemon and simple syrup make for a pretty interesting popsicle.
Yield 鈥 about 500mL
- 177mL simple syrup
- 118mL water
- 118mL lemon juice
- 59mL basil syrup (simple syrup cooked with fresh 鈥 washed 鈥 basil leaves)
- 22mL gin
Stir all to combine. Fill molds and freeze overnight.
鈥淕 DANGER鈥
This drink is the product of two years of work. Since I only make a new batch of flavors once a year for the 4th of July, to create a popsicle using wine, it seems the third time is a charm. If it鈥檚 not an issue of imbalanced flavor, the popsicle doesn鈥檛 freeze or the mixture separates. The result is an interesting journey of flavors, starting off very sweet and finishing with a dry and refreshing hint of mint.
Yield 鈥 about 500mL
- 133mL simple syrup
- 133mL mint syrup (simple syrup boiled with mint leaves)
- 177mL water
- 44mL dry white wine
- 22mL Massenez Cr猫me de Mure (blackberry liqueur)
- dash of vanilla extract
Stir all to combine. Fill molds and freeze overnight.
As I鈥檓 writing this, I have twenty pops in my freezer at home to finish for a party that鈥檚 one day away.
I really hope you enjoyed reading this. This annual project and the excitement of everyone getting to try the results mean the world to me given the time and work that go into it. Make them for yourself and please, please play with the recipes. Make your list of components and build your own. It鈥檚 as easy (or difficult) as you make it.
Stay hungry.
By Nick Wuest,
ICC Pastry Arts student
Nick Wuest graduated from the International 国产福利 Center (ICC), founded as The French 国产福利 Institute (FCI). In 2020, ICE and ICC came together on one strong and dynamic national platform at ICE's campuses in New York City and Los Angeles. ICC鈥檚 culinary education legacy lives on at ICE, where you can explore your own future in food.
