Cherry Lemonade Popsicles

The flavor of these Cherry Lemonade Popsicles is pure, vibrant, fresh cherry with a touch of citrus — they’re one of the joys of summer!

A popsicle doesn’t have to have a lot of bells and whistles to be gloriously delicious, and these Cherry Lemonade Popsicles prove it.   The cherry flavor is intense, and that’s because they’re made from nothing more than pure cherry puree with the tiniest touch of sugar, and fresh lemon juice.

In this case the sugar is used to enhance the flavor rather than to sweeten.  I’ve never had a more vivid tasting, utterly refreshing popsicle.

This is a formula you can apply to lots of summer fruit, and I plan to do just that, but it’s cherry season right now, so these need to happen asap.  Grab your cherry pitter and a pound of cherries and let’s get to work.  We’re going to puree the cherries, sugar, and lemon juice in a food processor or blender.   I strain it, but you don’t have to if you’d like more texture.   The puree goes right into the popsicle mold, it’s that simple.

I love my popsicle mold, I use it at least once a week during the hot weather and it’s a life saver.  It’s probably the best $20 I’ve ever spent.  I make all kinds of fruit pops, of course, but I also make ice cream bars in it.  You can get as healthy or as decadent as you want with your mold, it does both equally well.

The little bit of sugar and lemon really serve to bring out the cherry flavor in these pops.  They’re wonderful, I hope you try them.

The cherries for this recipe were generously provided by Northwest Cherries.

notes ~

• Be sure to taste your puree and adjust it with more sugar or lemon if necessary.  As always, the quality of your fruit will affect your final product, trust your instincts!  Add a touch of vanilla or almond extract if you like.  Even a bit of cherry liqueur would be fun to try.
• If you don’t have a popsicle mold you can make these with paper cups, just peel the cup away when you’re ready to eat.
• If you can’t get fresh cherries, use frozen.
• Cherry pitters are inexpensive and worth their weight in gold, you can find them here.

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3.14 from 43 votes

Cherry Lemonade Popsicles

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh pitted cherries
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

• Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the machine as necessary.
• This next step is optional, but I did it --- push the puree through a mesh sieve. Press firmly with the back of a spoon so you get as much as possible through.
• Fill the popsicle molds almost to the top. The puree will be thick enough that you can stand the sticks right in, without using the top to hold them.
• Freeze the popsicles until solid. To remove from the mold, immerse the mold up to, but not over, the top lip for just a few seconds in a sink full of hot water.
• To store the popsicles wrap well in plastic.

Don’t forget to pin these Cherry Lemonade Popsicles!

what I used for this recipe (the photos are clickable)