Parent Pops

We made it to Friday and, whew, its been a week! To top it off, we learned yesterday afternoon that Sam and Emma will not be physically headed back to school in September and instead restarting full-time digital learning. So I decided mom needed boozy popsicles STAT and, after tasting our frozen creations, we decided we had to share…

After lots of taste-testing with multiple taste-testers (funny how easy it was to find volunteers for this job!), we came up with four varieties of what we are calling our “Parent Pops”: red wine fudgsicles, rosé pops, Corona popsicles, and margarita popsicles. This weekend is supposed to get warm again, so we highly recommend you pop (pun absolutely intended) some Parent Pops in your freezer today so they are all ready for the sunshine ahead.

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Our red wine fudgsicles are rich, creamy and delicious but definitely the most work requiring both more ingredients and time on the stove. Our other three Parent Pops recipes require only three ingredients and can be poured directly into the popsicle molds if washing a mixing bowl sounds like just too much work. What frozen form of alcohol will you be making today?

RED WINE FUDGSICLES

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
• 6 ounces dark, semi-sweet or milk chocolate chopped or I used chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium size pot, simmer the red wine over low/medium heat for 12-18 minutes, allowing it to reduce by about 1/2. (Note: The goal is to end up with three (3) cups of liquid from the reduced wine, milk and whipping cream. Feel free to adjust the proportions to taste.)
2. Once red wine is reduced, whisk in the whole milk, whipping cream, maple syrup, cocoa powder, cornstarch, instant coffee, and salt.
3. Then add the chopped chocolate.
4. Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and the chocolate has melted, about 8-10 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, whisk in the vanilla. Let cool 5 minutes.
6. Evenly divide the chocolate mix between 8 popsicles molds. Insert popsicle sticks. Freeze until firm, 4 hours or overnight.

Recipe Notes:

To remove the fudgsicles from the molds, run the mold under hot water for 10 seconds and then pull the fudgsicles out of the molds.

If you are feeling extra ambitious, dip the fudgsicles in chocolate shell one removed from the molds. To make the chocolate shell, melt 6 ounces of chocolate and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil together in the microwave. Cook in intervals, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Let cool 10 minutes. Remove the fudgsicles from the freezer and dip in chocolate. Keep in the freezer until ready to eat!

You can swamp out the milk and whipping cream with coconut milk (just use the thickest parts from the can of coconut milk or use coconut cream) to make the fudgsicles non-dairy.

Recipe Credit: These Red Wine Fudgsicles are a wonderful marriage of two recipes from Half Baked Harvest and A Beautiful Mess

ROSÉ POPS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups or 12 ounces dry rosé wine
• 1/4 cup or 2 ounces fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup or 2 ounces simple syrup

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the rosé, lime juice and simple syrup in a bowl.
2. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and add popsicle sticks.
3. Freeze for at least 4 hours (the more freezer time the better).
4. Makes 6 popsicles.

Recipe Credit: Wine Enthusiast

CORONA POPSICLES

INGREDIENTS

• Corona beer
• Sweetened lime juice (I used Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice)
• 1 lime

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour corona beer straight into popsicle molds until 3/4 full
2. Add a thin round slice of lime to each mold
3. Top off each popsicle mold with sweetened lime juice
4. Freeze for at least 4 hours.

Recipe Credit: Insider and Live Love Pasta

MARGARITA POPSICLES

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Tequila
• 3/4 cup limeade (I used Trader Joe’s Organic Jalapeno Limeade)
• 1/2 cup orange juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the tequila, limeade and orange juice in a bowl.
2. Pour into popsicle molds and add popsicle sticks.
3. Freeze for 8 hours or more.

Recipe Credit: Wine Enthusiast

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Now that I have written this blog post and eaten ALL the Parent Pops (so I once again have empty popsicle molds available) I need to go make some regular popsicles for Sam & Emma because they are really NOT happy that all the Parent Pops Ryan and I have been enjoying are off limits…

Have you made boozy popsicles before and have a favorite recipe to share with us? Send the suggestions our way or, in the alternative, we highly recommend you make one of our Parent Pop recipes and tag us with a picture on Instagram using @letswineaboutitsister. We cannot wait to see what you make!