Monday, June 30, 2014

Boozy Strawberry Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicles and the Pursuit of Happiness

Is there any better way to celebrate the birth of our great nation than with these red, white, and sort of blue popsicles? Before you answer, I should mention they’re actually strawberry and blueberry cheesecake ice pops, and also spiked with booze.

Like much of our country, these are very simple, and get a little more interesting when you add a few shots of alcohol. I used vodka for its neutral flavor, but my scientist friends tell me any liquor will work just the same. However, be sure to measure carefully, since too much or too little alcohol and/or sugar syrup will adversely affect the frozen texture.

I didn’t want anything too icy, and it’s the alcohol and sugar that keeps this from freezing rock solid. If you leave out the booze, you’ll get a firmer ice pop, so you’ve been warned. I’m not sure how to adjust to compensate, so you may want to grab a regular fruit ice pop recipe on Allrecipes.com and use it instead.

I joked about our Founding Fathers being proud of this particular pursuit of happiness, but the more I think about it, I bet they would have been; especially that Ben Franklin guy. Dude liked to party. So, whether you make these on the 4th of July, or not, I really hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 6 Boozy Strawberry Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicles:

For the simple syrup:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
(This makes extra. Use it for lemonade and ice tea)

For the strawberry layer:
1 1/3 cup trimmed and quartered strawberries
1 1/2 tablespoon simple syrup
1 1/2 tablespoon vodka

For the cheesecake layer:
4 ounces (1/2 cup) room temp cream cheese
1 1/2 tablespoon simple syrup
1 tbsp vodka

For the blueberry layer:
1 1/3 cup trimmed and quartered blueberries
1 1/2 tablespoon simple syrup
1 1/2 tablespoon vodka

22 comments:

Unknown said...

Never thought I'd say this, but this recipe for popsicles just made my 4th of July plans significantly better

Wishbone said...

They make cream cheese in Miami?
Great vid.

The Dago by the Lake said...

I'm going to try this with vanilla vodka. Stay tuned!

Orion F said...

Chef John,

How much more vodka can I add before these just become mush?

-A Thirsty American

mvpetri said...

I want to make one of these here in Brazil on the last game of the world cup! I'm thinking what would give a yellow and green color. Maybe mango and kiwi!

Lauren said...

Can I use homemade vanilla extract that started out as vodka? Or will it make it too watery?

Lauren said...

Can I use vanilla extract that started out as vodka or will that make it too watery?

the Hoff said...

Did some scouring on amazon, and these seem to be cheapest molds that still have a good rating: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00JKF0A7O Or if you're afraid of links, search "Ozera Ice Pop Molds Maker, Set of 6". Cheers!

Unknown said...

Great video while reading this i am feeling cold.

Unknown said...

LOL Wishbone!

Chef John said...

Wishbone?

Chef John said...

Lauren, not sure!

Tish said...

Big fan here, Chef John! And I got a question: does the vodka serve any culinary purpose or is it there just to spike up the Popsicle? I'd like to leave it out if possible.

Thanks,

Tish

Chef John said...

Mostly to get a slight buzz, but as I mention in the post, it also keeps the texture a little softer and not so icy.

Unknown said...

In my state of giddy excitement, I didn't think at the time that these measurements were for 6 popsicles, not one, meaning each one of these has about ~1/5 of a shot. I'm going to be ridiculous and bump this up in an attempt to get 1 shot in each popsicle, which will probably result in a total mess of a final product, but I'll report back how it turns out. I might try and reduce the amount of water in the syrup to compensate for it.

Unknown said...

Can I skip the booze?

Chef John said...

Yes and no. Check the post for info!

Bobognargnar said...

Nice one chef!

Do you think different spirits for each layer will be noticeable, or is there not enough alcohol?
I'm thinking sambuca with strawberries, rum with cheesecake and amaretto with blueberries.

jen said...

chef john, can i use frozen berries for this? would i need to adjust anything if i did?

thank you for all you do!

best
jen

Chef John said...

Should work!

jen said...

how did you get the cream cheese layer so neat? it kept sticking to the sides when i was spooning it in (i have the same molds as you).

maybe i had too much vodka......

Unknown said...

John, we heard what you said about our sports teams and sent you our football coach as revenge. Enjoy!