The Freshman Cook: Watermelon Pops!

I just love watermelon, don’t you? When the watermelon is so perfectly kissed by the sun, that biting into a piece makes you close your eyes and say “mmmmm”. Eating watermelon always reminds me of being a kid, when we were sent outside after dinner to eat our big, juicy slices in the backyard. To clean our hands and faces, we would squirt each other with the hose. Oh, my goodness, what fun, and what great memories!!      I hope these watermelon ice pops bring wonderful  memories to your house!

Watermelon Ice Pops

(from Cooks Country Magazine)

1/2 small Seedless Watermelon

1/2 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Mini Chocolate Chips

1 pint Lime Sherbet, softened
12-3 oz disposable cups-paper or plastic will work
12 popsicle sticks of flat sticks

Scoop and measure out 5 cups of watermelon pulp.

Puree watermelon and sugar in batches in blender…

until smooth.  

The recipe reads that you should use a mesh strainer,

but I didn’t have one, so I used cheesecloth. Throw
away anything that won’t go through the cheesecloth.

In small batches, I strained the watermelon pulp into a bowl.

I covered the bowl, and put it in the freezer for 2-3 hours

until it got slightly slushy, but not frozen. 

Remove the bowl from the freezer, and stir.

Remove all the slush that may be on the sides of the bowl.

Add the mini chocolate chips and stir again.
The almost frozen state of the watermelon slush
makes it easy for the chips to suspend in the slush
 and not fall to the bottom. 

Place your disposable cups in a muffin tin. on a cookie sheet.
I started with a muffin tin, but it was unstable in the freezer,
and it refused to sit flat.
I used plastic cups, and they worked great.
Spoon watermelon puree to within a 
1/2″ of the top of the cups.  
Place in the freezer until puree is solid, but not rock
hard-about 1-2 hours.
Spread softened sherbet on top of the puree
in each cup. Make the sherbet come to the top of the cup, 
and smooth it with the back of your spoon.
Cover each cup with plastic. 
Cut a slit in the top of the plastic. I did this with a 
sharp knife. I also made the slit deep for the sticks.
 Insert a popsicle stick or flat stick into the pop
so that the stick almost reaches the bottom of the cup.
Freeze until solid, about 5 hours and up to 2 days.
To unmold, let the pops sit at room temperature for 
1 minute, then gently pull out from the cup.
 If you used paper cups, peel the paper away.
I had a hard time getting mine to come loose, so I ran
cold water very carefully on the cup for just a few seconds.
They came off quickly.
I hope these make you say “mmmmm”!!

Thanks for joining me today!