Farewell to Popsicle of the Week: A Trio of Tropical Popsicles

Betcha didn't know that I have a popsicle tree in my backyard!!

LOL! I've had a hard time with the natural light inside my house and taking pictures SO I decided to take it outside. It seems the best place to take pictures outside is right by my little palm tree on the back patio. I had to laugh when I made three popsicles and all three had the palm tree in the background. It's like a magical popsicle tree............ wouldn't that be fun?

I had a little time to myself the other day and remembered girlichef's Mango on a Stick. Even though it is in fact a mango on a stick, it rates as a sort of popsicle in my book. Girli says "A warm, ripe mango is skewered, peeled, sliced into petals, doused with the juice of a lime, then sprinkled with salt and chile piquín." Please visit her post HERE to read her seductive description of this glorious treat! It truly was one of the best treats I've had in some time. Outside on the back patio I was like a kid again, mango juice dripping down my arms, chili powder all over my face, it was the perfect way to enjoy some down time! Thanks Heather! (Note: Feel free to poke fun at my "so called petals". I can take it:) I never claimed to be much of an artist).

Taking a page from my friend Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, I wanted to make at least one popsicle with alcohol this summer so I tried my hand at mixing banana nectar and Bahamian vanilla rum (4ozs. nectar to 1 oz. rum). The addition of the rum helped the pops to stay on the softer side, which I really enjoyed. Plus, I really did taste the rum which was a nice grown up twist on a popsicle. I can't wait to experiment with different flavors and types of alcohol! Click HERE to check out Nastashya's Easy-Peasy Raspberry Ice Pops made with a handful of frozen raspberries and some raspberry liqueur.

The third pop is a really fun one from Erica's site, My Colombian Recipes. When Erica posted her Paletas de Coco con Bocadillo (Coconut and Guava Paste Popsicles) I knew I had to try them. Thanks to Velva at Tomatoes on the Vine, I had just enough guava paste left to make a batch of these delicious pops. Let me tell you, these are some decadent pops. How can you resist that wonderful combination of coconut milk, heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk? I was really excited to try these, not only because they have tasty little chunks of guava paste, but also because I had never made a pop with sweetened condensed milk before. The consistency of this pop was so creamy that it was almost like an ice cream pop. We loved eating them and biting into a chewy frozen chunk of the guava paste. They were a real treat! Please click HERE to see Erica's recipe.

For my last popsicle post I wanted to compile a list of favorites but as I was taking notes I realized that they all were favorites. We liked them all for different reasons. Popsicles are such a fun treat and the Popsicle of the Week feature has been one of the most fun projects I've taken on in awhile. All in all, I think I made about 15-16 popsicles and there are still lots of recipes that I'd like to try. There were some challenges along the way, mostly issues with unmolding pops from the Zoku or other various molds.

Although I won't be posting popsicles weekly, I will still be making them from time to time. In fact, I have a few in mind once fall begins!!