RECIPE: Make Cherry Ice Pops For National Cherry Popsicle Day (2024)

[2] Greek yogurt and cherry ice pops from ChooseCherries.com.

[3] The first Popsicle was a single: one pop, one stick. Then came the twin Popsicle to share with a friend (photos #3 and #4 © Popsicle).

[4] Today’s cherry Popsicle.

August 26th is National Cherry Popsicle Day. There are three easy recipes below. But first, a bit of law:

Popsicle® is a registered trademark of Unilever, which owns the brand. Any other frozen juice on a stick is a generic “ice pop.” It’s the same with Fudgsicle® and Creamsicle®.

Recipes for making your own cherry ice pops are below.

But first:


THE HISTORY OF THE POPSICLE

In 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson mixed together a fruit drink (believed to be orange-flavored) from powder and water and inadvertently left it on the porch.

It was an unseasonably cold night in the San Francisco suburbs, and when Frank found his drink the next morning, it was frozen.

He eased the frozen liquid out of the glass and, holding it by the stirrer, ate it. While Frank may have enjoyed his frozen fruit drink over the years, the public story doesn’t continue until 1923.

A 29-year-old husband and father working in the real estate industry, Frank made what he called Epsicles for a fireman’s ball, combining his surname and “icicle.”

They were a sensation, and Frank obtained a patent for “a handled, frozen confection or ice lollipop.” His kids called the treat a Popsicle, after their Pop.

So Frank created the Popsicle Corporation and collaborated with the Loew’s chain of motion picture theaters for the nationwide marketing and sales of the product in movie theaters.

By 1928, Epperson had earned royalties on more than 60 million Popsicles.

Popsicles Go Broke

The happy days ended with the Great Depression. In 1929, flat broke, Frank had to liquidate his assets and sold the patent to, and his rights in, the Popsicle Corporation.

Following three more corporate sales over the years, Popsicle® and the other “sicles” are now part of Unilever’s Good Humor Division.

While the record isn’t clear, Frank may also have invented the twin Popsicle, with two sticks. The concept was that it could be broken in half and shared by two children.

Over the years, the Popsicle Corporation continued to create frozen treats on a stick, including:

READY TO MAKE ICE POPS?

We’ve got three different ways for you to make cherry ice pops. Pick a recipe and get out the ice pop molds.

The first recipe couldn’t be easier: Just freeze cherry juice!

Preparation

1. POUR the cherry juice into ice pop molds and freeze for 6 hours. If using inclusions, add them when the juice turns to slush, stirring each mold with a chopstick or other tool to distribute the ingredients.

NOTE: Ice pop molds vary in size, often from 2.5 to 4 ounces, and from 6 to 8 pops. A 32-ounce bottle of juice, or concentrate reconstituted to that amount, should cover all bases.


RECIPE #2: CHERRY POPS FROM FROZEN CHERRIES

Ingredients

Preparation

1. PURÉE the frozen cherries in a blender. Taste and add sugar as desired.

2. ADD the optional mint, process, and pour into ice pop molds.


RECIPE #3: GREEK YOGURT & CHERRY ICE POPS

This recipe was published with permission from Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sports and Adventure, by Matt Kadey, RD, via ChooseCherries.com.

Ingredients

Preparation

1. STIR together yogurt, honey, and lime zest. In a separate bowl, stir together the cherry juice, lime juice, and mint.

2. SPOON two alternate layers of the yogurt and cherry mixtures into each popsicle mold. Insert the sticks into the molds and freeze until solid, about 6 hours. They will keep in the freezer for 2 months.

3. UNMOLD: Run the mold under warm water for a few seconds, being careful not to thaw the pops.