Icy “Paletas,” Mexican Popsicles

For the Multicultural Kid Blogger’s World Cup series, I am presenting on several different countries that are participating. Today’s country is Mexico!  I have so many popular Mexican recipes on my web site- today we’ll look at famous Mexican popsicles and then learn to make our own!

It is hot and sticky here in Houston, TX! There is nothing in the world like a refreshing, ice cold popsicle on days like today when we’re at 100 degrees. Did you know that kids around the world enjoy frozen treats of different flavors? One of the countries famous for their popsicles are Mexico: all over the country, from the sandy beaches to the bustling plazas in big cities, street vendors and neverías tempt us with colorful, fruity paletas.

Popular Ingredients in Mexican Popsicles

I surveyed our friends and family in Mexico and we made a list of the most common flavors. You can see that most come from the tropical fruits found in Mexico:

tamarindo (tamarind)
mamey
guanábana
coco (coconut)
limón (lime)
mango
guayaba (guava)
sandía (watermelon)
jamaica (hibiscus flower)
maracuyá (passion fruit)
piña (pineapple)
nanche
fresa (strawberry)

While tropical fruits are the most common, some creative cooks have come up with incredibly exotic flavors such as arroz con leche (rice milk), tequila, pétalos de rosa (rose petals), piñon (pine nut, which are pink in Mexico!), zapote (a black fruit!), aguacate (avocado), or cacahuate (peanut). If you are ever in Mexico City, check out “La Feria de la Nieve en Milpa Alta Xochimilco,” where hundreds of flavors of ice cream and paletas are made and tasted:

Make your own Mexican Popsicles!

Paletas are frozen Mexican popsicles made with fresh fruit, water or milk, and sometimes a bit of sugar. They are very easy to make at home!

1) Choose your fruit. We made strawberry, mango, and passion fruit flavor. Since we couldn’t find fresh passion fruit, we used the Goya frozen fruit pulp.

2) Puree your fruit in the blender with only enough water/milk needed to have the consistency of a runny milkshake. The more water in the mixture, the harder the final texture is. Instead of water you can use milk, or even evaporated milk (common with strawberries and mamey). Taste the mixture, and see if it needs a bit of sugar. Certain flavors, like lime, coconut, and tamarindo, need more sugar, and other flavors, such as mango, might not need any sugar. If you’d like to substitute honey or agave, or any other sweetener, experiment to see which tastes the best!

3) Pour the mixture into popsicle molds (or paper cups like we did!). When they are halfway done freezing, a popsicle stick (“paleta”) is stuck inside and they are left to freeze completely.

We left ours overnight, though they were ready in a few hours. I hope you enjoy this Mexican frozen treat!