Jaime’s Famous Strawberry Basil Balsamic Pop Recipe

This summer I have been obsessed with making popsicles. I shared my Roasted Peaches and Cream popsicle recipe, and mango sriracha pop recipe, but today I am here to share my favorite (and most famous) pop of all: Strawberry Basil Balsamic.

The balsamic reduction adds just a touch of depth to the pop flavor, while the basil keeps it light and refreshing.

So grab your sweetest strawberries and your best pop mold and give my famous Strawberry Balsamic Pop Recipe a try. You won’t regret it.

Strawberry Basil Balsamic Pop Recipe
Makes ~10 pops

Ingredients

2 cups water
1.5 cups basil leaves
1.5 cups sugar
2 cups strawberries
1/4 cup balsamic reduction (or less)

Place your pop mold in the freezer to give it a chill before you start. Also, soak your pop sticks in some warm water (this helps them stay suspended in the pop better).

If you don’t have a thick balsamic, simmer a 1/2 cup of regular balsamic vinegar on the stove until it reduces by half, until you have about a 1/4 cup. Let cool. This step is worth it.

Combine the water, basil leaves, and sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil, stir until sugar dissolves (almost immediately after boiling). Remove syrup from heat, let cool to room temperature. Don’t skip this cooling step and jump right to freezing, your pops will not have the smooth texture you want if you do that.

Strain the cooled syrup to remove the basil leaves. Combine in a blender with the two cups of strawberries. I like to leave it slightly chunky so the real fruit texture comes across, but you can blend completely for a totally smooth pop.

Drizzle pop molds with the balsamic reduction. It will cling attractively to the walls of the cold pop mold. Fill pops with strawberry mixture, leaving about 1/2″ for the pops to expand as they freeze. Freeze for one hour, then place pop sticks into pops and freeze fully overnight.

Lick ’em up!

by Jaime