Fresh cherries are in around Western New York! They have been for a while and we've been eating them like crazy! There's nothing better than fresh cherries grown right in your own backyard! Since there was an overabundance in my refrigerator I started toying with a popsicle idea. The end result was absolutely delicious and you can follow my steps below to make your own!
Cherry Lime - Lemonade Popsicles (DIY)
You will need:
~About 5 cups of cherries, pitted
~1 lime
~About 1 cup of lemonade
~Sweetener (optional)
You will also need a good blender or food processor, 3 oz. plastic cups, craft/popsicle sticks, plastic wrap and scissors.
First, get a bag of cherries and pit them. I have to admit, I strongly dislike pitting the cherries! It feels like it takes forever, but we got a new tool in here at Make Your Own just recently that makes the job much easier! It's called a single cherry and olive pitter. It's a handy little device that you can use to push the pits out of cherries effortlessly. The best part is that it's small, so it's easy to store.
There it is! We have them in the store right at the register so grab one the next time you visit. Or you can buy one here.
When I started doing this, I didn't think to actually count how many cherries I had, but my blender was 3/4's full of pitted cherries.
I would say it was probably about 4 or 5 cups of pitted cherries. In reality you could do as little or as many as your blender/food processor will hold. It's totally up to you.
Once the cherries are pitted you add the zest of one lime and the juice of one lime. Somewhere or at sometime in my life I heard a great tip about juicing lemons and limes and it's stuck with me: before cutting a lemon or lime in half to juice it, roll it on the countertop applying gentle pressure. This loosens the pulp and the juice so it's easier to squeeze.
So zest your entire lime right into the blender or food processor. Then roll your lime a few times on the counter, cut it in half and squeeze, cut side up (so the seeds don't escape into your blender) until the lime has given you all of it's juice.
Next, add about a cup of lemonade into your blender or food processor. (This measurement will vary depending upon how many cherries you use - with 5 cups of cherries I used 1 cup of lemonade.)
If you don't like lemonade you could substitute just about any other type of juice. I have seen Cherry Limeade drink mix at several stores. Or, you could just use water.
Blend your ingredients together until smooth.
At this point, you can add sweetener if you'd like. Agave Nectar adds a subtle sweetness that's very smooth. Honey does the same thing. You could also add Stevia or sugar. It's up to you. I did not add any sweeteners to mine. The cherries were sweet enough on their own!
If you are adding sweetener give the blender or food processor another whirl to incorporate the ingredient. Taste test and add more if necessary. Once you're satisfied with the taste, gather several 3 ounce plastic cups and craft/popsicle sticks. You'll also need some plastic wrap.
Start pouring your mixture from the blender or food processor into the cups. You can fill the cups as much or as little as you'd like. I filled mine until they were almost full.
Next, pull off a small length of plastic wrap and cut it in half so you have two small squares. Take one plastic wrap square and place it over one cup. Smooth down the sides until it's tight and attached to the cup. Continue this process until all cups are covered with plastic wrap.
Take your scissors and holding the cup firmly to stretch the plastic wrap across the top, puncture a small hole in the plastic wrap in the middle. Continue with all cups until each has a small hole in the center of the plastic wrap over the middle of the cup.
Then take your craft/popsicle sticks and again, holding the cup firmly to stretch the plastic wrap across the top of the cup, push your craft stick through the hole you made and press until you hit the bottom of the cup with the stick. Continue this with each cup until you have craft sticks in all of your popsicles.
They should look like this:
Now, it's time to put them in the freezer! To keep them upright you can place them in an empty muffin tin. I didn't have room in my freezer for a muffin tin so I just carefully put them in and made sure they were secure before closing the door.
To be on the safe side, I let them freeze overnight and enjoyed one the next day after lunch! What a refreshing treat! I did have a hard time popping the frozen concoction out of the cup so I just used scissors and cut the side of the cup - it popped right out after that.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Do you have other ideas for popsicles? Share in the comment section below!
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