Lemonade & Popsicles

LEMONADE BASE RECIPE

1 cup sugar
1 cup room temperature water
3 cups cold water
1 cup lemon juice
FOR PINK LEMONADE

3 teaspoons grenadine
FOR PASSION TEA LEMONADE

4 Tazo Passion tea bags
3 to 4 cups boiling water


Create simple syrup: Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place the saucepan over medium heat. Stir the mixture occasionally to help it dissolve, if necessary, then remove the saucepan from the heat when the sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Pour the lemon juice (either fresh squeezed or store bought is fine) into a pitcher. Dilute the lemonade with the cold water, then add the simple syrup and stir thoroughly to combine.

Create additional batches of the basic lemonade for the other flavors. To create pink lemonade, add the grenadine and stir thoroughly to combine. To create the Passion tea lemonade, steep the tea bags in the boiling water. If you’d prefer a stronger Passion flavor, use a lower amount of water, as the lemonade will dilute it (I generally use, and recommend, only three cups for a more concentrated flavor). Set the tea aside to cool, then combine with the base lemonade recipe.

To assemble the popsicles, arrange a line of small paper cups in a line and pour in the desired amount of lemonade. To create even, equal sections as shown, I used a ¼ cup measuring spoon to measure out the liquid. When all the cups are filled with their first flavor layer, carefully transfer them to the freezer and let them set for about 30 minutes or until almost solid through – soft enough to insert the stick, but firm enough to support it. Insert the popsicle stick part way through the first layer (but not clean through to the bottom of the cup). Transfer the cups back to the freezer to allow the first layer to set completely.

Continue to add additional layers of the various flavors as desired, ensuring each layer is allowed to be frozen through before continuing. If the layer isn’t completely set, you may get a little bleeding between the layers rather than a crisp line (which you may prefer!). Stop creating layers once the cup is about ¾ of the way full to avoid any accidental overflow. After the last layer is frozen, serve when ready by ripping open the paper cup.