Saturday, May 5, 2012

Mexican Paletas for a Cool Summer

Paletas are nothing but simple ice pops made using fruit juice. You freeze the fruit juice in appropriate molds and you get an easy summer dessert. You can even add dairy ingredients to obtain creamier paletas. Most of the paletas or ice pops are sweet except for the cucumber paleta or the pepino con chile y limon which has the heat of the fresh green chilly in it. I have tried my hand to make the spicy cucumber paleta and the sweeter rose paleta (using rose syrup).Recipe is based on this post in Myrecipes and also referenced this post in NYTimes.


Cucumber Paleta:


Ingredients:
Cucumber: peeled,seeded and chopped 3/4 cup
Sugar: 2-3 tbsp
Salt: a pinch
Lemon Juice: 2 tsp +/-
Green Chilly: 1 small or medium optionally deseeded as per preference
Water: 1/4 cup +/-

Preparation:
Blend together all the ingredients to a smooth puree. Strain the puree using a fine seive or a cheese cloth. Do the taste test and adjust the sugar. Freeze by pouring in molds overnight or atleast 3 hours. 



On tasting the sugar is one that touches the tongue first, but then the heat of the chile takes over and you will definitely feel the spice along with iciness.

Rose Paleta:

This is a very simple and easiest and tasty ice pop or paleta. You mix in 3-4 tsp of rose syrup into a cup of water and then freeze overnight by pouring in appropriate molds. 



For releasing the ice pop from the molds, hold the molds under warm water for  few seconds and you can see them releasing from the sides.

Simple and delish paletas are apt for summer and also for Cinco de Mayo which is celebrated today in US and Mexico.

1 Comments:

Swathi said...

Delicious pops. Love to try that spicy one.

Thanks for visiting my Blog

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