Strawberry Paletas
Yield:10 to 16 pops (depending on the size of the molds)
Active time:1 hour
Total time:2 days
| 2 cups | Sugar |
| 1 Tbsp. | Dried hibiscus leaves |
| 4 pints | Strawberries, trimmed and frozen |
| 4 | Medium limes |
| Popsicle molds and sticks |
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Add 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a pan and bring to a simmer; cook until sugar is dissolved.
Place hibiscus leaves in a heatproof bowl, then pour the sugar syrup over leaves and stir. Let sit for 3 minutes, then strain into a bowl, discarding leaves, and let cool.
Add 2 pints strawberries to syrup. Tip berries onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and roast in the oven until syrup is tacky and strawberries have reduced in size by half (above), about 30 minutes.
Pour mixture into a nonreactive container, and let cool completely.
Thaw remaining frozen strawberries about 90 minutes (they should be only partly thawed).
Purée half-thawed strawberries in a blender (above), adding a few tablespoons of water if mixture becomes too thick. Use a measuring cup to note the exact quantity of the resulting purée before transferring it to a large bowl, then add half that amount of water (e.g., 1 pint water to 1 quart purée).
Juice limes (above), then add one part lime juice to five parts of the purée, along with remaining sugar. (Reserve any left-over lime juice for another use.) Stir well.
Strain cooled hibiscus-roasted strawberries and fold them into the purée.
Pour purée into molds, add Popsicle sticks, and freeze overnight.