peach paletas

Peach freezer pops, peach popsicles, peach paletas is what they are. These are peachier than the original peaches which were nicely ripe and quite peachy. How is that done? Enhancing, that's how. 

* Five large ripe peaches. Scored with an X on the bottom opposite the stem side. Blanched in boiling water for no more than one minute. Dropped into an ice bath. Following this harsh extreme treatment the peaches virtually peel themselves as tomatoes and other such fruits do. Yes, tomatoes are fruits. One of the peaches was on the mushy side, the others were still firm. I only had a tiny taste of one but I could tell by the smell they would have been great just as they were.

* 1/2 Cup pure cane sugar

* 1 juicy lemon

* 1 scraped flat top teaspoon cinnamon. It is really easy to overdo it with cinnamon. Resist the urge to add more than a mere hint. Did you know the average American uses up to four X the amount of cinnamon in apple pie as Canadians do? It's an American thing. Channel your inner Canadian and back off from the cinnamon. You want it to enhance, not to dominate. 

* A pinch of salt to both counter the sugar and to bolster it. A pinch is about 1/32 of a teaspoon. You do not want the taste of salt. The aim is to knock the saccharine edge off the sugar to prevent it from becoming cloying. A tiny amount will round it out. 

* Enough milk to liquify the peaches for blending to the desired viscosity. This turned out to be much less than I had imagined. I think about 1/4 cup for these peaches, certainly no more than 1/2 cup. The entire volume was nearly a quart, which was much more than I anticipated. Enough for fourteen paletas. 

See? Lemon + sugar = enhanced peaches. Cinnamon is an extravagance, however minor. Freezing tends to mute flavor. These elements punch it up. The unfrozen liquid is slightly more powerful than what you would consider mildly pleasant. So when the flavors are perceived through your chilled mouth your taste buds go, "wow, this popsicle really has flavor!"  (Actually your taste buds are doing the perceiving and your brain is doing the interpretation, but let's not quibble over details, a'ight?)

These peach frozen things are excellent. I've never had anything similar as delicious, and cart venders do sell paletas in my neighborhood through the summer. They are popular around here.  This homemade version beats those things hands down. Apart from the sugar they're probably healthy too. Fresh fruit, such an improvement over the Cool-Aid and orange concentrate popsicles we made as kids.