A good way to forget your commute from/to work on a hot sticky day is to indulge in a popsicle that has something of an Italian Summer vacation air to it.
It comes to us from the people's republic of pops or more precisely Brooklyn People's Pops and their first book People’s Pops: 55 Recipes for Ice Pops, Shave Ice, and Boozy Pops from Brooklyn’s Coolest Pop Shop (Ten Speed Press, June 2012) by Nathalie Jordi, David Carrell, and Joel Horowitz.
Cantaloupe and Campari Pops
MAKES 10 POPS
1 cantaloupe, about 2 pounds, peeled and seeded (see page 75)
3/4 cup (6 fl oz) simple syrup (page 7)
1/4 cup (2 fl oz) Campari
Cut the cantaloupe into large chunks and purée in a food processor. You should have about 21/4 cups (18 fl oz) of purée.
Transfer the puréed cantaloupe to a bowl or measuring pitcher with a pouring spout. Add the simple syrup until the cantaloupe tastes quite sweet. Now dribble in the Campari until you can detect its flavor. Campari is less alcoholic than most spirits, so this mixture can handle more of it, but it has such a strong presence that you want to be careful not to overdo it.
Pour the mixture into your ice pop molds, leaving a little bit of room at the top for the mixture to expand. Insert sticks and freeze until solid, 4 to 5 hours. Unmold and transfer to plastic bags for storage or serve at once.
Cantaloupes
Okay, okay. We know we already anointed peaches as the epitome of summer, but melons, those buxom orbs with their waffle-weave shells and floral aroma, are without a doubt another high point. A table stacked tall with gorgeous melons makes us lusty like no other fruit.
To prep a cantaloupe for puréeing, cut it around its equator and scoop out and dump the seeds and fibers inside. Set each half on a cutting board, cut side down, and lop 1/2 inch off the top horizontally so that you’ve cut off a flap approximately the size of a circle made by your thumb and finger. Now get the rest of the rind off by slicing longitudinally, as if you had the northern hemisphere on your cutting board and were cutting the surface off each time zone around the world. Once you’re done with both hemispheres, your cantaloupe is ready to purée.
Buy only cantaloupes that smell delicious even before cutting, because a scentless cantaloupe is probably a flavorless one. Along with the ideas in this chapter, cantaloupe pairs beautifully with lavender, hyssop, and tequila.
(* Reprinted with permission from People’s Pops: 55 Recipes for Ice Pops, Shave Ice, and Boozy Pops from Brooklyn’s Coolest Pop Shop by Nathalie Jordi, David Carrell, and Joel Horowitz, copyright © 2012. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group. Photo Credit: Jennifer May.)