Strawberry Ice Pops

You can't get a bad meal in San Francisco.  Seriously.  I would love to go back and just try to find the worst food the city has to offer.  The Zagat Guide of Hovels.  Ok, not really.  But it's such a food town, I can't imagine a bad restaurant would survive long enough to pay the crazy, almost-like-Williston-North-Dakota-crazy rents in downtown SF.

We came across Bi-Rite Creamery in the Mission district of San Fran.  It was a mild, almost cool day, middle of the afternoon, and there was still a line out the door for Bi-Rite's homemade ice cream.  Check out the ice cream menu.  They are famous for their salted caramel ice cream, but I love the flavor experimentation.  Earl Grey?  Honey lavender?  Ginger?  Love love love. 

And bonus, check out the ice cream woman's Tinkerbell green eyeshadow.  You don't see that at Cold Stone. 

Bi-Rite Creamery just came out with a cookbook this month with recipes for ice cream and frozen treats (including that amazing salted caramel ice cream).  There were a few sample recipes in the store, so I picked up this one for strawberry ice pops.  Since making these, I haven't been able to keep Ben away from the freezer.  He eats two at a sitting.  They're sweet, but with real strawberries, so I don't feel terrible about it. 

And I'm going to sound like a Bi-Rite junkie here, but if you have two minutes, check out this video.  It's all about Bi-Rite and their ice cream - and it's beautiful.  It'll make you feel happy.  Promise.  

One note: As I still have some rhubarb jam from last summer, I substituted 2 cups of the strawberries (which get pureed down) with 1/2 cup of my rhubarb jam and used less simple syrup as sweetener.  As I'm guessing you don't have rhubarb jam laying around the house, I'm posting the original recipe, but don't be afraid to experiment.  Don't worry too much about the straining step, either.  It's good to do so you don't get a ton of strawberry seeds and a more icy texture, but you can skip it if you want.  They're just popsicles, after all.   

Strawberry Ice Pops

Makes eight 3 oz. ice pops.  Don't have popsicle molds?  Dixie cups and a stick work wonders.  To unmold the pops, just run them under hot water for a few seconds to loosen. 

6 cups strawberries, washed and hulled (about 3 pints)
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, boiled briefly to dissolve the sugar), cooled
1 and 1/2 Tbls. strained fresh lemon juice

Cut off and discard the tops of the berries and puree in a food processor or blender until smooth

Transfer 1/4 of the mixture to a medium bowl; strain the rest of the puree through a fine-mesh strainer into the bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much puree as possible.  Add 1/2 cup of simple syrup and the lemon juice. Stir until well combined.

Taste the base.  It should taste just a bit too sweet (once frozen, it will lose some of its sweetness). Add more simple syrup if you need it.

Transfer the base to a liquid measuring cup and pour into the ice pop molds.  Insert the sticks and freeze until completely solid, about 4 hours.  Unmold just before serving.