Pomegranate Buttermilk Ice Pop

Doesn’t An Ice Cold Frozen Summertime Treat Sound Good Right Now?

Baby, it’s hot outside and I need help cooling off! Ice pops came to mind and looking through my fridge reminded me I have several bottles of pomegranate juice that POM sent me, so why not make some pomegranate ice pops?

Well, after testing out a few ingredients I realized that the pomegranate juice needed to be more intense. I wanted these to have a creamy aspect to them and buttermilk seemed like a good match, but the pomegranate flavor didn’t come through strongly enough. It got kind of lost. That was easily rectified. I cooked it down by half, chilled it, and tasted it. It was now strongly flavored, but still needed a little boost.  

So, next go around I added sumac to the juice when I reduced it. I happened to have whole dried sumac berries ,* but ground sumac * will work just as well. After it cools you need to strain out the sumac through a fine mesh strainer. Sumac’s tart, perky, but slightly smoky flavor is fantastic in this. 

But after mixing it with only buttermilk, I wasn’t particularly fond of the texture. It needed more creaminess. So, I added half buttermilk and half heavy cream. This did the trick. It only needed a little honey to round it all out. 

I bought these ice pop molds * a few years ago and put them to good use here. Use any kind of popsicle molds you’ve got, but if you’re in the market for new ones, I can find no fault with these .* They perform exactly as described. The individual silicon molds sit inside the plastic base.

You place the lids and handles on top and freeze them. After they freeze you more or less peel off the silicon mold and you’ve got a perfect ice pop and the base of the handles catches any drips as you eat it. I ended up having a little leftover mixture, so after we’d eaten a couple of the pops I simply filled 2 more molds and let them freeze in the base. Easy as can be. 

These ice pops are so refreshing when you’re trying to beat the heat or when you just need a little something sweet, tart, creamy, and cold. Really delicious and perfect for the weather right now. Plus, there’s something inherently joyful about eating an ice pop. It takes you back to your childhood and all those memories of long hot summer days without a care in the world. Except these actually taste better. I promise.