Paletas

The mould filled in two goes with the fruit pieces added between, so they do not all float to one end.

Vegan.

Ingredients

the base

• 800 g ripe fruit — mango, strawberry or watermelon
• 150 g sugar
• 150 ml water
• juice of 2 limes
• a pinch of salt

the pieces

• 200 g the same fruit, in small dice
• chamoy, as on its own page, to serve (optional)
• ground chile piquin, to serve (optional)

Method

1. THE MOULD IS FILLED IN TWO GOES WITH THE FRUIT PIECES ADDED BETWEEN, so they do not all float to one end. Diced fruit is less dense than the sweetened purée around it and it rises: stirred through and poured in one go, every piece has drifted to the top of the mould -- which becomes the BOTTOM of the finished lolly -- within the twenty minutes before anything freezes. What comes out is a plain ice with all its fruit in the last two centimetres. Filled halfway, frozen forty minutes until slushy, then the pieces pressed in and the rest poured on top, the slush is thick enough to hold them where they are put.
2. THE STICKS GO IN AT THE SAME SLUSHY STAGE. Pushed into liquid at the start they lean, float up and set crooked or fall out. At forty minutes the mixture grips them upright and they stay centred.
3. THERE IS MORE SUGAR THAN TASTES RIGHT AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. Cold dulls sweetness considerably, and a purée tasted warm that seems perfectly sweet will be bland and icy frozen. It should taste slightly too sweet in the jug.
4. THE SUGAR IS DISSOLVED INTO A SYRUP FIRST AND NOT STIRRED IN DRY. Granulated sugar stirred into cold fruit purée does not fully dissolve, and the undissolved crystals give a gritty lolly. Boiled with water into a syrup and cooled, it disperses completely -- and the syrup also lowers the freezing point enough that the paleta is sliceable rather than a solid block of ice.
5. THE LIME IS NOT OPTIONAL EVEN IN A SWEET ONE. The juice of two limes in eight hundred grams of fruit. Frozen fruit purée without acid tastes flat and faintly dusty; with it, the fruit tastes of itself.
6. The sugar and water boiled together 2 minutes into a syrup and COOLED completely.
7. The 800 g of fruit blended with the cooled syrup, the lime juice and the salt until smooth.
8. TASTED: it should be slightly TOO SWEET at room temperature.
9. The moulds filled HALFWAY only.
10. Frozen 40 MINUTES, until SLUSHY and thick but not solid.
11. The diced fruit pressed down INTO the slush, distributed through each mould.
12. The sticks pushed in UPRIGHT -- the slush will hold them.
13. The rest of the purée poured on top to fill.
14. Frozen a further 5 HOURS, or overnight, until solid.
15. To turn out: the moulds dipped in warm water for 10 SECONDS only and the paletas pulled straight out.
16. Served as they are, or dipped in chamoy and dusted with ground chilli.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes