Cranberry Raspberry Pops

These are undeniably the most amazing homemade popsicles I've ever made. And I think that even if you're not as into cranberries as I am, you'll love them too. If you're partial to other kinds of berries, you can pick and choose which juices and fruits you use for your pops. But if you ask me, these could not have been better. Just don't wear a white shirt when you're eating one.

Cranberry Raspberry Pops
Adapted from this book.
2 1/2 cups cranberry juice
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 fresh raspberries
1 cup light brown sugar, or to taste

1. In a saucepan, combine all of the ingredients (except the fresh raspberries) and 1 1/2 cups water. Cook over low heat for about 7 minutes, stirring, until the mixture has thickened. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. Divide your fresh raspberries between the molds. Fill the pop molds with the juice mixture, insert the sticks, and freeze for at least 12 hours.
3. Remove from the freezer; let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing the pops from the molds.

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I also used this popsicle mixture to try out a birthday present I got from my awesome friend Ashlee. (This is in no way a sponsored post, just an honest product review!) She gave me the Zoku popsicle maker that claims to make popsicles in 5-8 minutes. And you know what? It does!

You have to freeze the mold for at least 24 hours in your freezer before it will work, and you can't touch the silver part with bare hands or it can burn you with its coldness. But I actually sat there and watched it freeze, which isn't something you see every day. This one took closer to 10 minutes to completely freeze, so it wouldn't be very practical for serving more than 1-2 people. But if you want a delicous home made popsicle and you don't want to have to wait overnight, then here is your solution. And I like how the popsicle looked when it came out of the mold.



{freezing my popsicle on the counter}



{Zoku popsicle: it freezes in a marbled pattern}



Berry Limeade Poppies

Now for something a bit more fitting for the season. I made these popsicles the other day with ingredients that I had available and they're awesome. I have to confess, I'm eating one as I type this (more difficult than I imagined it to be) so that I can accurately describe how tasty this flavor combination is: refreshing lime, a hint of syrupy cream soda and sweet berries. These poppies are simple to make and the perfect thing on a hot day.

I had 1/2 a bottle of extremely flat cream soda left over from my bday party a few weeks ago (we don't really drink soda at our house, here it's mostly water and cranberry juice) and I don't like to be wasteful, so I wanted to find a use for it.

There isn't really a real recipe for these, everything is interchangeable. I started by putting some of the fruit in the molds; I did 1/2 of the popsicles with sliced strawberries and 1/2 with whole blackberries. Then I combined 1 cup of limeade (we buy the Simply brand, it's not made from concentrate and safely starch-free) and 1 cup of cream soda together and pour them into the popsicle molds. I didn't mix in any extra sugar, and these turned out to be sweet, but not too sweet. Just really refreshing.