Notes about Recipes in this book

• Strawberry ice pops (Paletas de fresa)

  • TrishaCP on July 05, 2017

    I didn't get to try them, but my five year old niece said they were the best popsicles ever! (I'll take it.)

• Watermelon ice pops (Paletas de sandía)

  • sarahcooks on August 02, 2011

    I really like these. I really like watermelon, so no surprise there. I didn't have lime juice on hand, so I skipped it. They're sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. And I prefer the texture of these to the strawberry ones as they have less fruit solids in them. The solids do float to the top, but it's not very noticeable.

  • cespitler on November 03, 2012

    These taste like summer! They come together quickly and aren't overly sweet.

  • Rutabaga on September 07, 2015

    My husband and son really enjoyed these, although I tend to prefer the fruit and yogurt pops I've made. Mine were very sweet, probably because the watermelon I used was overly ripe. Next time I would reduce the sugar when using such a ripe melon. I left in the seeds, which were well-pureed in the Vitamix, but think a better option would probably be to puree less and instead strain out any seed pieces, as this might lead to a slightly finer texture. Some of the pops were icy in texture, and I'm not sure whey this seemed to vary. '

• Avocado ice pops (Paletas de aguacate)

  • SheilaS on July 22, 2017

    I liked these a lot - very cool and creamy, almost like an ice cream, with just a little tartness from the lime. I think it's worth making these with perfectly ripe, creamy Haas avocados as that rich texture really comes through in the final product.

• Hibiscus-raspberry ice pops (Paletas de Jamaica con frambuesa)

  • L.Nightshade on August 06, 2011

    I threw in a few blueberries along with the raspberries called for in this recipe. I also use less sugar than called for. There is sugar already in the recipe for the agua de jamaica, and sugar added to the berries, then sugar added to the entire mix. Makes my teeth hurt to think about it! I probably added less than half the sugar called for at each step, and they were still plenty sweet.

  • sgka on May 31, 2026

    Used blueberry hibiscus tea and random frozen raspberries from freezer clear out. Strained fruit out to use for smoothies since there wasn’t much of it and went with juice/tea based popsicles.

• Spiced tomato-tequila ice pops (Paletas de sangrita)

  • cespitler on November 03, 2012

    A fun, adult-oriented ice pop. I made these to use up the end of a jar of yellow tomatoes that I canned last season and the color turned out beautiful! The hot sauce was a little too much for me so I'll 1/2 the amount next time. I had a little trouble getting the pops to freeze solid enough to hold a nice shape when I pulled them out of the molds. I attribute this to the alcohol so I might decrease the tequila just a bit next time, too. The flavor of the tequila wasn't too much, but the texture for freezing was off.

  • sloane_mgqknp on April 19, 2026

    It’s been a while since I made these, but I remember them as delicious. I gave it 4 stars because I remember them as being putzy. I would make them again though, and they might deserve a higher rating.

• Yogurt ice pops with berries (Paletas de yogurt con moras)

  • cespitler on November 03, 2012

    Yum! These paletas are delicious. The recipe was easy and things came together as written. I love the tartness of the greek yogurt and I especially love that the flavor of the honey shines through. I just started keeping bees so I'll look forward to the fall when I can feature honey from my own hive! I substituted red currants for the berries, which I liked. My molds are a bit smaller, which made it hard to marble, so I might stick with layering. I put the extra in little tea cups, and I'm sure no one will mind.

  • Melanie on March 07, 2015

    Delicious. We were lucky enough to have fresh blackberries from the garden for these. Loved the berries mixed with honey and tart yoghurt. I mashed some of the berries up to create a more mottled texture.

  • stockholm28 on July 05, 2017

    I agree that these were delicious. I thought the subtle lemon and honey in the yogurt was a nice complement to the blackberries. I pureed the blackberries and attempted to do the "swirl" thing that they describe, but it did not work so well. They still tasted great.

  • Rutabaga on September 25, 2018

    I've made the Smitten Kitchen version of these pops where the berries are pureed and swirled. This time, I followed Gerson's recipe and used whole berries. The lightly crunchy pieces of tart fresh berries are a nice complement to the sweet, luscious yogurt.

• Roasted banana ice pops (Paletas de plátano rostizado)

  • sarahcooks on August 02, 2011

    These are my favorite from the book so far. My husband and I both love them. I love how creamy they are, and the banana flavor is present but not overwhelming, and the cinnamon is nice and strong.

  • aliradloff on November 24, 2019

    I recently made some of these to use up some very squishy bananas that I had hanging around in the fruit bowl. They taste like frozen banana bread, a slightly different texture than expected but not bad, they were devoured by my family.

• Lime pie ice pops (Paletas de pay de limón)

  • Aquila on July 14, 2011

    I skipped the part where you roll the pop in cookie crumbs. They tasted just like a lime pie.

  • Jane on July 26, 2011

    I didn't allow enough time for these to get really frozen solid so they were impossible to get out of the molds. They were in the freezer for 6 hours but I think overnight may be better. So I chopped them up into cubes and rolled them in the graham cracker crumbs. They tasted really good and no-one seemed to mind that they weren't on sticks.

  • dbuhler on May 19, 2024

    We love these! I make them every summer, multiple times during the season. Sometime I roll them in the cookie crumbs, but I usually just leave them plain.

  • aberne on January 03, 2026

    Favorite ice pops ever! So so good

• Quick coconut ice pops (Paletas de coco rápidas)

  • SheilaS on August 30, 2020

    These are delicious and super easy to make. The toasted coconut adds a great nutty flavor and chewy texture. I have substituted condensed coconut milk for the condensed milk and a mix of coconut milk and coconut cream for the half & half to make a vegan version. The texture is a little more icy/less creamy than the originals but they are still delicious.

  • dbuhler on July 30, 2024

    These are delicious and so easy to make! It doesn't feel like summer if I don't make them at least once during the season!

• Mexican chocolate ice pops (Paletas de chocolate)

  • twoyolks on December 06, 2016

    There's not enough chocolate here to make these chocolatey. These taste about as good as a mediocre fudgesicle.

• St. Petersburg Times

  ...is a colorful introduction to the world of ice-cold Mexican refreshments.

  Full review

• Seattle Weekly

  Gerson continually reminds readers to get creative, use the freshest ingredients possible...

  Full review

• thekitchen.com

  I dare you to read five pages without either getting pulled into a description of a fruity, creamy, flavor-filled paleta or, alternatively, just wanting to lick the page. I certainly couldn't.

  Full review