I’ve been eating cherries like potato chips this summer. Once I start, it’s hard to stop. With the hot summer weather lately, though, I figured a frozen version would be refreshing, so I made a batch of these cherry lime popsicles. Did you ever have those Otter Pop frozen tube pops when you were a kid? These are the fresh, grown-up version of the cherry flavor. (Also, they’d be perfect for upcoming Fourth of July festivities!)
For a very long time, I thought that I didn’t like cherries. I think I can blame it on childhood doses of cherry-flavored cough syrup, which doesn’t taste anything like real, fresh cherries. Or maybe I was scared off by my mom’s story of almost having to have her stomach pumped after her brother told her that you could eat the pits? Don’t worry, there are no pits in these cherry lime pops, and no artificial flavors!
I have yet to check, but judging by my hands after pitting cherries, I think that these will still give you the same cherry-stained lips as the ones you remember from your childhood. I just used a paring knife to remove the cherry pits, but you might want a cherry pitter.
Cherry Lime Popsicles
Makes approximately 4 large popsicles.
1 lb fresh cherries (about 3 cups pitted)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
Stem the cherries and remove the pits. Combine the cherries with the water, sugar, and lime juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and cook until the cherries are very soft, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Pour the cherry mixture into a blender, and puree for a minute or two until the texture is smooth. Pour into ice pop molds (I used these twin molds, with wooden sticks that I inserted after about 30 minutes in the freezer), and freeze.
I plan to omit the sugar, add 1/2 Tsp of honey and allow the natural flavor of the cherry and lime to shine. the sugar makes them unhealthful!
Tob, if you’re against all sugar, just remember that without enough sugar, they may freeze up too hard and icy. You may need to experiment with adding more honey than that. I never said these were health food, they’re dessert 🙂