Ruby red, delicately floral and sweet with a punch of tartness, raspberry popsicles always seem to have a place in my freezer, tucked away for lazy afternoons. When the boys are playing outside and inevitably come in, desperate for a treat, it’s easy enough to pluck a popsicle out of the freezer and hand it over, knowing that it’ll cool them down and provide some element of joy.
I enjoy them too, on summer evenings when the sun lingers in the sky. Sometimes I’ll pair it with Prosecco or my homemade raspberry liqueur.
Making Raspberry Popsicles
Raspberries only really reach their peak of ripeness – sweetness, flavor and antioxidant capacity – in the summer. Just like all berries, raspberries are fragile and if picked too early, they lack flavor. This makes frozen raspberries a particularly good year-round choice, since they’re picked at the peak of ripeness and flash-frozen to preserve their flavor, nutrition and the overall integrity of the fruit.
To make raspberry popsicles, you’ll start by sweetening the fruit with just a touch of honey and reinforcing the raspberries’ acidity with a splash of lemon juice, simmering them together before straining away the seeds.
How to Make No-Drip Popsicles
No one likes sticky hands. To keep popsicles from dripping, before pouring the popsicle juice into molds and freezing them, whisk in a little gelatin. The protein structure in gelatin will help keep the popsicles in a semi-solid state as they thaw. So instead of dripping and running down your hands, the popsicles resemble Jello as they thaw – making clean up much easier.
Because gelatin contains protein, you’re not only preventing sticky hands, you’re also adding a boost of nutrition too.
| No-Drip Raspberry Popsicles | | Print |
- 20 ounces frozen raspberries
- ½ cup honey
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup gelatin
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons Creme de Framboise, optional
- Warm the raspberries, honey and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat until they soften, and lose their form, about 8 minutes.
- Set a fine-mesh sieve over a clean saucepan, and strain the raspberries through the sieve, pressing down to preserve the pulp. Discard the seeds.
- Spoon the gelatin into a small bowl, cover it with water and allow it to soften.
- Transfer the puree back to the stove, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- When the raspberry puree begins to bubble, whisk in the softened gelatin. Remove the raspberries from the heat, stir in the Creme de Frambroise and pour the puree into popsicle molds.
- Freeze overnight or until solid.
- Dip the bottoms of the molds into lukewarm water to loosen them, then serve.
Creme de Framboise is a ruby red, sweet raspberry liqueur. In this recipe it helps to enhance and reinforce the flavor of raspberries. It’s a tiny amount spread over 8 popsicles, and I let my children enjoy it; however, you can omit it if you like.
This recipe was developed in partnership with the National Processed Red Raspberry Council.
Pair it with a Cocktail
For a grownup treat, pair these popsicles with Prosecco brightened by a splash of Creme de Framboise or other raspberry liqueur.
Our Favorite Ways to Use Berries
No one likes to feel deprived, so here are some of our favorite ways to use raspberries (and other berries!). You can find frozen berries year-round, and they’re picked at the peak of ripeness. No more waiting until summertime.
Raspberry Yogurt Bark is super simple to make and a nice, wholesome treat for grownups (or kids).
Raspberry Whole Fruit Sorbet is an easy sorbet that you can make in your blender with just three ingredients.
Kefir Berry Pops are super fun for July 4th and include strawberry puree, blueberries and a dollop of kefir for probiotic goodness.
Blackberry Mint Popsicles are delightful to make late in the summer, when the berries are at their darkest and their ripest.
