Strawberries-and-Cream Paletas

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Creamy paletas built the way the best Mexican paleterías do it: half the strawberries are cooked down into a jammy, lime-spiked purée for real fruit intensity, the other half stay raw and chopped so you get bright berry chunks in every bite, then everything is layered with a tangy sweetened-condensed-milk cream. A spoonful of corn syrup and a pinch of salt keep them scoopably soft instead of icy and tooth-cracking straight from the freezer.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb fresh strawberries, hulled (about 5 cups)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup (or mild honey)
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 pinch fine sea salt

• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup Mexican crema or full-fat sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt

• 10 3-ounce popsicle molds with sticks (or 3 oz paper cups plus wooden craft sticks and foil)

Instructions

1. Rinse and hull the strawberries. Set aside about 1/2 pound (roughly 1 1/2 cups) of the prettiest ones; chop those into 1/4-inch pieces and refrigerate. Roughly chop the remaining 1 pound.
2. Combine the roughly chopped strawberries, sugar, corn syrup, and pinch of salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring and mashing with a wooden spoon, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the berries collapse and the mixture reduces to a loose jam that coats the back of the spoon. You should have about 1 1/4 cups.
3. Off the heat, stir in the lime juice. Blend the cooked mixture smooth with an immersion blender (or a regular blender), then scrape it into a bowl and cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Speed this up by setting the bowl in an ice bath and stirring for 5 minutes.
4. Stir the reserved chopped raw strawberries into the cooled purée. Taste: it should be aggressively sweet-tart, since freezing mutes flavor. Add up to 1 more teaspoon lime juice if the berries are very sweet.
5. In a second bowl, whisk the heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, crema, vanilla, and 1/8 teaspoon salt just until smooth and pourable, about 30 seconds. Do not whip it to peaks — you want a thick liquid, not foam.
6. Layer the molds: spoon about 1 tablespoon of the strawberry mixture into each cavity, then 1 tablespoon of cream, alternating until the molds are filled to 1/4 inch below the rim. Tap the mold firmly on the counter a few times between layers to settle out air pockets.
7. For a marbled look, drag a wooden skewer or the handle of a thin spoon up and down through each cavity two or three times — no more, or the layers muddy into pink.
8. Cover the mold with its lid and insert the sticks so they stand straight and reach about two-thirds of the way down. If using paper cups, freeze 45 minutes until slushy, then cover each cup with foil, poke a stick through the center, and return to the freezer.
9. Freeze until fully solid, at least 6 hours and preferably overnight. To unmold, run the outside of the mold under warm (not hot) tap water for 20 to 30 seconds, then pull the stick straight up with steady pressure. Peel paper cups away by hand. Serve immediately, or wrap each paleta in parchment and store in a zip-top bag for up to 3 weeks.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

Frozen Chocolate–Caramel Peanut Nougat Bars

Blueberry Peach Buckle with Almond Streusel

Creole Cream Cheese Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem