As of this week, I had consumed 0 watermelon this summer. That's blasphemy for a girl that grew up in Alabama and ate her weight in watermelon as a kid. I love watermelon in all forms - watermelon salad, gilled watermelon, watermelon snow cones, Italian ice, lollipops, jolly ranchers - if it's watermelon (flavored) somethin' I'm most likely to try it (and probably love it). To rectify this lack of sweet summer fruit in my life and inspired by our current heat wave, I decided to make popsicles. They are incredibly easy (and delicious). If you don't have a true popsicle mold, don't worry. You can use small paper dixie cups or anything of similar size. I ordered this mold off Amazon.
Watermelon Raspberry Popsicles
- 3 heaping cups, cubed watermelon
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 1/2 cup mint simple syrup (below)
- Juice of half a lime
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. The goal here is to liquify all of the fruit without breaking the seeds up too much. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a large pourable container. Scrape the inside bottom of the sieve with a spoon as it drains in order to push the fruit pulp through.
Fill your molds 90% of the way with your strained watermelon mixture - you want to leave room for the liquid to expand as it freezes. If you're using a traditional popsicle mold, place your sticks in now. If you're using something alternative, like a dixie cup, let the filled cups stand in the freezer for 2 hours (to allow it to harden just a bit) before you insert the sticks. You can also cover the top with a plastic wrap, secure with a rubber band or tape, and then poke the stick through before freezing. Freeze your popsicles on a level surface for 6 hours or overnight.
To remove from the mold, run warm over the outside of the mold for 3 seconds. If the popsicles don't want to budge, don't force them out - continue running them under the water for 3 seconds increments until they come loose.
Mint Simple Syrup
- 1/2 cup filtered water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, tightly packed
Place water and sugar in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and add mint leaves. Let the leaves steep for 1.5 - 2 hrs. Strain and discard leaves.