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The Coolest Way to Beat the Heat: Paletas
In Mexico, one of the world’s great fruit meccas, paletas are everywhere and utterly delightful. Made from berries, melons, citrus,
flowers brewed into teas, or musky tropical mangos and coconuts, and sweetened with local sugarcane, the jewel-toned ice pops seem as rooted in the landscape as the ingredients that inspired their creation.
That’s especially true in and around Michoacán and Jalisco, where the raw materials grow in abundance. All a paletero (paleta vendor) needs to do is puree the fruit with sugar and freeze the mixture on a stick (paleta means “little stick”), and they’ve simultaneously produced refreshing relief for a hot day and preserved the produce at its peak—think of paletas as edible time capsules, locking in what fruit tastes like at its ripest, sweetest best.
Their all-natural composition, showcasing fruit and other flavorful ingredients, sets paletas apart from commercial ice pops that often rely on added flavorings. It’s also what makes them great for home cooks: few ingredients, minutes of work, and fun opportunities to customize them with embellishments—from drizzled chocolate or crushed nuts to tangy syrups swirled in the puree.
In the July/August issue of Cook’s Illustrated and online now are six formulas to get you started, each one calibrated for just the right flavor balance and smooth bite.
Each is vibrant, refreshing, and easy to make on a whim.
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Featured Recipe
Strawberry Paletas
These ice pops are made from just strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt—and take only minutes of work. Get the recipe.
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Why This Recipe Works
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Supercold temperatures limit the sensitivity of our taste buds. So adding plenty of sugar ensures the sweetness will balance out and the other flavors will taste more intense.
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Sugar also creates a biteable treat because it lowers the freezing point of the water, causing the formation of tiny ice crystals surrounded by semisolid sugar syrup.
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Recipe Developed by David Yu
David Yu is a James Beard Award-nominated associate food editor for Cook’s Illustrated. Before that, he was a test cook for ATK’s books team. After leaving his previous computer engineering life, he attended culinary school in London and then cooked in restaurants throughout both the West and East Coasts. An avid advocate for trying all foods, David enjoys sharing fun and unfamiliar bites with anyone brave enough to taste.
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More from This Issue
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Cooking Tips
How to Soften Rock-Hard Ice Cream (Depending on How Much Time You Have)
With these three techniques—listed in order of quickness—you can avoid a kitchen meltdown and get actual scoops, whether you’ve got 1 minute or 30. Get the scoop on how to do it.
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Keeping Up with the Team
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By Becky Hays, Deputy Editor
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Who I’m Following
Millie’s Izakaya
A few months back, Tokyo and London–based recipe developer Millie Tsukagoshi Lagare started a series on her
Instagram account called Millie’s Izakaya. For each installation, she shares an easy and delicious drink and snack combination so you can “enjoy the taste of Tokyo at home.” I want to try them all. She has a way with matcha, too, with flavors like
black sesame and
grilled strawberry.
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Under the Radar
Boozy Beans
Make your life better by cooking up a pot of Andrew Janjigian’s
Drunken Beans. They have bacon, beer, tequila, and poblano chiles, and you can taste every ingredient in the finished dish (without any booziness or bitterness). Add cotija cheese and tortillas, and you’ll have a terrific meal.
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