Wine popsicles!

[Robin Garr]

In this Hades-hot summer, this may be an idea whose time has come.
(Full story = http://www.mercurynews.com/food-wine-he ... i_18594359 )

Wine popsicles and other boozy frozen treats

By Jackie Burrell
Bay Area News Group
The Mercury News

Summer always has been a season for popsicles and other kid-friendly frozen treats. But now some sommeliers and food writers have started taking those icy sweets in new and adult directions.

Hello, Sauvignonblancsicles and Prosecco pops!

Salutations, frozen sangria.

And is that bourbon we taste in that peach popsicle?

It seemed like an anomaly when word first trickled westward that sommeliers at the Fairmont Chicago-Millenium Park hotel were freezing wine onto sticks, but it has quickly became a trend. While the Chicago crowd made Sauvignonblancsicles from white wine, pineapple juice and St. Germaine elderflower liqueur, their mixology colleagues at the Fairmont Pittsburgh introduced Peach Sangria Sorbet Push-Ups and Berry Lemonade Vodka Popsicles.

Now, it's spreading. Even respectable Betty Crocker is touting beer snow cones -- a recipe for beer granita, drizzled with fruit syrup, can be found at http://www.bettycrocker.com. And two new books up the ante.

Matt Armendariz's "On a Stick!" (Quirk Books, 184 pages, $16.95) features mint-flecked, rum-soaked honeydew melon wedges and frozen sangria -- both on sticks. And Oakland author Charity Ferreira's new "Perfect Pops: The 50 Best Classic & Cool Treats" (Chronicle Books, 96 pages, $16.95) includes eight booze-infused popsicles, including Campari-laced Negroni Pops, Bourbon-Peach Pops and frozen chocolate milkshakes made with Guinness.

Ferreira dabbles in frozen sangria too, because, she writes, "You know how easy sangria is to drink on a hot summer day? These pops go down even easier."

Depending upon the popsicle molds and garnishes, some of these colorful creations aren't just backyard party-ready. Ferreira's Prosecco Pops, for example, laced with rose water and frozen with layers of multihued rose petals, are perfect for swankier affairs.

The trick for any alcoholic popsicle is to include enough nonalcoholic ingredients -- fruit juice, for example -- so it will freeze properly. As anyone who stashes vodka in his freezer knows, spirits don't freeze at the same temperature as water. They just get syrupy, which is a problem in the popsicle world. Wine doesn't require truly glacial temperatures, but an 84-proof liquor needs to reach minus-30 degrees Fahrenheit in order to freeze and a 64-proof booze won't popsicle-ize until it hits minus-10.

But dilute the bourbon with pureed peaches, or add orange juice to the Campari, and even a normal home freezer can churn out cocktail-sicles.

Funny, I was contemplating a moscato d'Asti sorbet/granita this week. Would be interested to know if anyoone has tried it before.

Thanks for posting Robin. I don’t know if I’m ready for “wine on a stick”.

Salute

Robin, this has actually been going on for a long time. I've seen wine ices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. There was a wonderful wine bar in NY called Vintage New York that sold them for years. Unfortunately, for reasons I can't understand, they went out of business.

There is also wine flavored ice cream. Look up Caio Bella which started in New York but I think is available in other places now. It's definitely an idea whose time has come.

Ian, your idea sounds fabulous. Let us know if you make it.

As in another thread, throughout Europe and the Middle East (including especially in Turkish bars that serve wine), various forms of frozen desserts, those including granitas, sorbets, ice creams and frozen yoghurts have included a variety of wines. Rarely a specific variety on its own but a wine chosen to complement or highlight other flavor ingredients have been popular for several centuries.

A few examples...visit the ice cream parlors of Verona, Madrid, Florence, Rome, Weisbaden, and in addition to more "standard" offerings you will also find such concoctions on a stick (some chew them, others lick at them more gently). Visit many of the better bistros, trattorias and tapas bars of France, Italy and Spain and you will find an abundance.

Among my own favorites here in Israel, at a mini-chain called Vaniglia - strawberry sorbet with Pinot Noir or Moscato; peach flavored high fat ice cream enriched with intentionally chosen well oaked Chardonnay. In Istanbul, throughout the herb market, stands offering ices on a stick that combine the flavors of black cherries and Syra; and would you believe in Antalya, Turkey (I hate the beach front tourist regions), in the small villages opening courses of frozen, lightly lemoned and gently herbed with either basil or mint, Moscato.

At home, when I do many jams I enrich them with wine and make at least some into frozen ices on a stick.

Best
Rogov

Oh thanks for sharing with us! Sounds mighty delightful and refreshing. I have got to try this. Thanks for the tip of not using too much alcohol, incase it won't freeze. I tend to use too much alcohol and it just doesn't mold properly.

A few years back, we made honeydew popsicles with Midori in them and some with Campari and grapefruit juice. They were very tasty.