Not cake, but ice.
Two weekends ago when I spent the afternoon judging for Hands On Atlanta, we all had a special treat. During the event, the King of Pops was on site selling his handcrafted popsicles. Usually he’s pushing his cute cart around the streets of Atlanta, but instead he was kicking it inside with us for the event. I was super-excited because I had already heard his story a few weeks before when a friend ran into him at the local farmer’s market. He was buying gobs of strawberries. So many, it prompted her to ask what the heck he was going to do with all of them. Then he handed her his card in the shape of a popsicle. Turns out he’s the King of Pops.
When she told me about meeting him, I decided I was going to track down his cart one day to try some of his icey pops. Luckily, that Saturday, all I had to do was turn around and there he was.
Say Hi. This is Steven. The King of Pops.
Follow him on Twitter if you’re in Atlanta and you can keep up with his flavors and where he’ll be next. He was also featured just yesterday on CNN. Check him out here.
I had the Blackberry Mojito – YUM – but I’m still hitting myself for not trying the Chocolate Sea Salt, too.
You know, I think the only kind I’ve ever made myself are the ones you buy at the grocery store. You know the flavored water kind in those long plastic tubes.
Yeah, those.
So, I decided I wanted to make my own handcrafted popsicles with real fruit.
I just used some paper candy cups I had on hand and wooden popsicle sticks to play with.
It’s really easy to make your own.
Pick a fruit. 2 cups strawberries in this case. Hull and half them.
Throw them in a food processor with 1 Tablespoon super fine sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
Then blend it all together until completely smooth.
Pour and freeze.
These were layered with yogurt in between the strawberry. They were pretty tasty and the perfect size for me.
The recipe came from the book, Ice Pops which has tons more treats like these.
And because Steven can’t show up to everyone’s house with his cart filled with handcrafted popsicles, here’s a chance to win your own Quick Popsicle Maker for fast freezing fun…
…along with the book, too.
Enter for a chance to win:
Zoku Quick Popsicle Maker and Ice Pops book
Just leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite fruit flavor.
Deadline to enter is Tuesday, July, 6th at 5:00 pm ET. Sorry, Time’s Up! Winner Announced Below.
One winner will be chosen at random and announced sometime Tuesday evening.
P.S. Giveaway purchased and sponsored by me, but you can find the book and Zoku pop maker at Williams-Sonoma.
Good luck and stay cool!
And the winner is… #4035. Congrats Marta. You get the Ice Pops book and Zoku Pop Maker. Now you can make your own Raspberry Lime Pops.
Next… I had a treat in my inbox today. Statistician Don… you know Pioneer Woman’s Statistician Don? The numbers guy?
Well, his wife told him about the giveaway I was having and he took time out to pull together these numbers for me. Then I made a little bar chart for you guys from all his hard work. Check out your favorite fruits.
Thanks Don! You’re the sweetest.
Blackberry & blueberry!!!
My kids would love this!!
Strawberry! Or wait. Grape juice pops!
LOVE LOVE LOVE BLOOD ORANGE POPS!
Lemon/Lime. Great giveaway, thanks.
Blackberry would be my favourite!
cantaloupe would so yummy!
Yum! I love strawberries and peaches, so I’d probably want to try doing something with those flavors.
My favorite fruit changes from time to time…right now I think I am stuck on an old standard- strawberry!- YUM!
So hard to choose, but mango, mango, mango!
Strawberry or Lime, thanks!
Wow! What awesome pops!!! I’d love to win this one!
Mmmm…watermelon and/or strawberry….oooh! watermelon/lemon sounds like a wonderful Popsicle flavor! YUM!
raspberry. i want one of those zoku things SO BAD!
I like lime!
I love raspberry, especially when combined with dark chocolate. :)
I’m totally in a peach kick right now. That Strawberry Cheesecake pop looks so yummy!!
melon. like melona ice bars
mmm….. will be trying to make these anyway but i;m sure will turn out so much better with the maker. hope i win :)
Strawberry lemonade, yummy!
Cherry Lime-ade is my favorite!
Second favorite is Blue Raspberry
My favorite would probably be peach with watermelon at a close second. My fingers are crossed cuz it’s my b-day…
I have to say that strawberry is my fave :)
First I gotta just tell you how amazing you are…as for flavor? Watermelon…or ruby red grapefruit.
Oh I love all fruit flavours, but I think blueberry is my ALL TIME Favorite :)
Chocolate blueberry would be delectible <3
I love pineapple!!
Oh My Goodness!!! My kids would LOVE this….if they could get any away from me that is :-) and definitely raspberry (fresh from my Mom’s garden if I could have a choice)!!!
my favorite fruit flavor is lemon!
anything strawberry!! I love it!
I love strawberry popsicles!
YUM!!! My Favorite is Mango!
A pina coloda type pop sounds great right now!
Lime!
Hard to choose a favorite but if I have to I’d say papaya. Today anyway : )
Anything berry…those lemonade ones sound good too!
Favorite fresh fruit flavor is raspberry, YUM! Thanks for the chance to make my very own frozen treats.
Pineapple!
Grape is always my favorite ice pop!
My favorite fruit flavor is strawberry banana! YUM!
Banana!!
Raspberry! yumm!
I love Pineapple Basil popsicles. A local business sells them downtowna and I have a hard time trying their other flavors because I love the Pineapple Basil flavor so much!
Love these! Strawberry is our favorite flavor. The twins would love this in our pantry.
My son would love these! I would love to make olallieberry pops! That would be soo tasty!
Lime! Or maybe a Strawberry Limeade…
Watermelon!
My favorite fruit is watermelon follow closely by nectarines. Yummy
Definitely strawberry!
ohhhh. i saw this at WS the other day!!! i want to make some yummy peach mango ones since that became my favorite flavor smoothie when i had my tonsils out a few weeks ago!
My favorite: Watermelon Mojito.
Those look yummy! My favorite fruit flavor is strawberry!
My favorite flavor has got to be orange. I can’t wait to try to make my own pops!
I’d love to say I have a favorite, but I’m a fruit addict, so it’s July…maybe watermelon. I’m off to make blueberry jam, which I love too! Neat idea! As much as I cook, I hadn’t considered doing something so cool.
yummy! strawberry is my favorite!
This is a toughie! Definitely strawberry, but then again, it could be pineapple…or maybe watermelon…or even lemon! I can’t decide!!
Generally my favorite is coconut, but I just tasted a cucumber thyme martini with a splash of cranberry and thought those flavors would make a delicious pop!!
Ummm…I’m a sucker for chocolate, but I’m dying to try that blackberry mojito.
anything citrus-y! That strawberry lemonade sounded delicious!! I want popsicles now.
Um, I read through the first 100 comments and NO ONE mentioned the adorableness of the King of Pops. How does he keep from melting all those popsicles? What a hottie.
I think you should give HIM away. :)
I would have to say lemon. I love sour stuff!
Raspberry! Or Tutti Frutti :)
Definitely rootbeer!
peach-strawberry! Tastes like summer!
berry flavors!
This looks like fun. My favorite fruit flavor is raspberry :-).
My favorite is actually coconut, with a creamy, smooth base, not those Dryers things. Years ago, I bought a rice popsicle from a cart, and it was delicious–I’ve been wondering since how to find those.
Yum!!
I am a huge orange fan!
Coconut Mango!
Strawberries are my favorite fruit
Pineapple/ lychee flavoured!!:)
Peach is my favorite fruit flavor. What a great giveaway!
What a great giveaway! Thanks! My favorite fruit flavor is pineapple. I would love to make popsicles for my upcoming wedding!!
Mixed Berry – strawberry, blackberry and blueberry.
Raspberry!
WATERMELON yummmmy
Watermelon has to be the best!
raspberry, these look fun :)
I am dying to try making some coffee pops…maybe a nice mocha or caramel coffee pop. For me…because I am thinking that my two year old should not have coffee. Ever.
:)
Mangoes! Love it! These look so awesome!
I’d love to win & start making popsicles – my mom made the best when we were kids! Right now, I’m all about blueberry!
It’s a tie between chocolate and strawberry/banana!!!!
Those look amazing! my favorite popsicle flavor is strawberry, but I don’t think I could have resisted trying the madarin basil flavor.
I love the idea of using the paper cups to make popsicles. My favorite flavor is always strawberry.
ooh…my kids would love these!! we are totally into orange flavors around here – anything that tastes like an orange julius or creamsicle is alright in my book :)
Favorite fruit flavor… tie between peach and cherry! Yum! Oh and I heart frozen treats, especially on a stick!!!
Watermelon.
I love popcycles. My favorite is an old one, sky blue. don’t have a clue what flavor that is though.
They look amazing, I’d love a chance at winning. Favourite is Strawberry. Thank you.
Blueberry!
PEACH RASPBERRY. or maybe kiwi raspberry, does that exist?
Yummy! I think I would love this as much as my kids… As far as fruit flavors, I love Pina Colada, so I would layer Banana, Pineapple, and Cream of Coconut. Another great summer flavor would be Watermelon Lemonade. Of course, if you are like me and you eat frozen sweets all year round, I think a Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake would be grand! Pumpkin, Spices, Buttermilk, and maybe a scoop of Cool Whip!!!
chocolate or orange or lime. We love popsicles :)
HMMM… watermelon??
STRAWBERRY!!!
Banana popsicles are my absolute favorite! Yummmm.
Mango!
Wow, those look delicious !
My favorite flavor is Raspberry, Yum-yum !
I recently made Mojito pops :
http://uneirresistibleenvie.blogspot.com/2010/06/mojito-pops-polos-au-mojito.html
Berries, any or all!
Watermelon has always been mine…as long as its real and not fake flavor :)!
Passionfruit!
My favorite fruit flavor realy depends on the season.
Spring – Strawberries
Early/Mid summer – blueberries and raspberries
Late summer early fal – apples
fall through the winter – pumpkin
I’m realy a seasonal fruit person.
blackberry!!
Raspberry is my favorite. Yummmmmmy!!!
those look so good!
peaches + strawberries + mint? That sounds like a good flavor to me!
Raspberry!!
Wow. Those look yummy! My favorite flavor is Strawberry. I would love to make a Strawberry Lemonade popsicle.
Strawberry-watermelon is my facourite flavour!
Strawberry fo’ sho’! My grade school used to have the BEST strawberry pops with real fruit (can you believe that coming from school in the 80’s?) I haven’t had them in many, many years.
Grape! :)
Watermelon. YUM!
Peach!
strawberry or any berry mix
Favorite fruit flavor … hmmm … I think I’m gonna go with mango. Mango pops sound really good right now.
Peach is my favorite. I just made blackberry peach pie for the 4th of July…it was delicious!!
That strawberry-lime combination looks so good!
Peach. definitely peach.
There’s also another great book out there I’d recommend. I just got it a few weeks ago and am loving it.
Pops! Icy treats for everyone by Krystina Castella
I just had the banana split pop this weekend… give it a try, you’ll thank me! I’m trying the chocolate-dipped ones next. :)
OMGosh! What a great giveaway. My favorite fruit is pineapple.
Oh cool! I love lime, but I’d also be curious about how dragon fruit translates into a popsicle!
My favorite flavor has to be lemon, I love it in anything. I cook with it and bake with it and even love squeezing it on french fries.
Love your site and love blueberry!
Strawberry Lemonade ~ yummy!! these look like so much fun!
I love lime and I sprinkle sea salt over it before eating it.
Mango! Maybe pineapple…hmmm mango passion pineapple. Yep, that’s it!
My favorite fruit is a pear – but I’ve never had a popsicle that flavor before! I usually go for cherry popsicle treats!
I love cherry !!!
Lime. Or Blueberry. Or Kiwi. Or Pomegranate…
I LOVE strawberry and lemon.
Raspberry !
raspberry!
Oh yum! I could never choose a favorite, but I am drawn to pina colada, or lime/coconut. :)
I must say, almost anything with strawberries in it is divine!!
Cherry!! Or coconut…but wait…is coconut a fruit, or a nut? They sell it with the fruit, but that may not mean anything. Ok, I’m gonna stick with cherry.
My steady faithful pop is always Raspberry. It’s a great and a safe bet across store bought brands. But Cherry and Lime follow very closely behind!
My son (and husband…and me:) would love this! How awesome!!
these sure sound yummy! Watermelon would make a fantastic
popsicle
Lemon or any other fruit along with lemon is my favorite fruit flavor. Mmmm….
hmm, its a toss up between strawberry and blackberry
Lime!
Blackberry!
mmmmmmango!
I have really been into blueberries lately!
I saw that popsicle maker last week and thought it would be so cool. I think fresh lemon would be so refreshing on these hot summer days.
Mango! Though if I win this prize, I’ll definitely be attempting some chocolate and sea salt pops of my own!
strawberry
I would love this!Just found out that I have developed a dairy allergy and, as a baker, it is so sad!! This kit could be a fun way to find dairy free treats. Come on, random selection, mama needs some good treats!!! :)
Oh, and I’ve been dying to make those pillow cookies, but have to wait for a day that it’s worth it to have hives ;)
Wild Maine Blueberry and lemonade. Has to be those tiny blueberries.
Lemon and Raspberry! YUM!!
Raspberry has got to be my favorite! I love making raspberry freezer jam out of them!
hmm favorite fruit… I dont think I can choose just one! Kiwi, cherry, blackberry, honeydew, and grapefruit are the top 5 though.
Oh man, my favorite fruit flavor is ANYTHING + Kiwi. And boy would this help to beat the heat.
these look great! My favourite is lemon. I love how cool and refreshing it tastes.
Thank you so much for the chance to win… my kids love pops and these would be so much fun to make.
I wish I could make a Tiger popsicle, it’s my favorite ice cream flavor. Otherwise I’m partial to strawberry.
MANGO IS MY FAVOURITE
my favourite flavor is mix of beries and cream mhhh YUM!!
It would be hard to choose, but I would have to say my favorite fruit pop would have to be raspberry, and I love the idea of putting yogurt in it too. YUM!
Cherry for sure!!
Strawberries and Cream!!
I’d like to try strawberry mango margarita. Yum.
wow!!! would LOVE to win – – those look sooo good!!
Strawberry. And lemon basil sorbet
fresh kiwi strawberry would be so delish!
I LOVE banana popsicles and actually have been eyeing this popsicle maker through the window of our William Sanoma. :)
I could go for any flavor right now, but raspberry lime sounds AMAZING!
Ooh, mango, without a doubt!!!
strawberry-lemonade is my favorite!!! LOVE IT!!! :)
I love raspberry!! My kids would LOVE to make ice pops!
Normally I would say strawberry but lately I’ve been into peach and mango flavors! YUM!
Mango/Avocado! I make them for my 20-month old and she loves them!
I think my first pop would have to be a layered lemon and blueberry. It just screams summer!
For some reason I can never resist raspberry. :)
Blood orange! I used to buy juice cartons of blood orange juice and make ice pops of them almost every week during the summer.
My all time favorite flavor is lime! :)
Love the idea of them. And i am sure that would be the perfict size for kids. Since mine never finnsih a big iceblock.
Now, wounding if I can even win if I do since I am not in the USA.
Watermelon… YUM!
cherry chocolate sounds so good right now…
Strawberry…with Blueberry as a close second..
My family and i love everything Watermelon flavor. I once special ordered a whole case of watermelon jolly ranchers for my husband
i love mangos! and i want to learn how to make ice pops! :)
My favorite is strawberry banana. Yum!
Peach!
Those popsicles look delicious! I can’t wait to try that out. And I need to go visit Atlanta if it means I can get a handmade popsicle from such a cute guy, haha!
Normally I would say my favorite fruit flavor is strawberry, but this summer weather has gotten me in the mood for watermelon. Yum!
I love mixed berry pops! (strawberry, raspberry and blackberry) so yummy!
I like strawberry.
Strawberry!
Favorite fruit flavor is hard – raspberry, blueberry or real cherry (but I hate candy cherry flavor). It is so hot I’d love to win this!!
This looks like such a great idea! My favorite fruit right now is apricot!
Strawberry !!
Definitely strawberry! I’m slightly allergic to them, but I don’t care… they are too good to give up!
LIME pops are the best!
Strawberry yumm!
Strawberry… it’s sweet. (:
Pineapple is my favorite hands down!
im on a blackberry kick!! although i would like to discover a seedless version someday…this kit looks awesome!
this icy treat would make my day!
definately a mixed berry
Hmm.. . . I love cherry, but raspberry and grape are high on my list, too.
I just love any popsicle wih real fruit in each bite. Strawberry is a favorite though!
I’ll go for watermelon . . . yumm
cherry and lime! YUM!!!