Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops, Shaved Ice & Aguas Frescas
Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops, Shaved Ice & Aguas Frescas is currently ranked number (4) on the bestsellers list for Mexican cookbooks at Amazon.com. It is ranked number (1) for Latin American cookbooks.
Paletas was written by Fany Gerson, who has been featured in the New York Times, Gourmet, Fine Cooking, Daily Candy, Village Voice, NY Daily News, Time Out magazine, and New York magazine, among other publications. She is also the founder and owner of the acclaimed La Newyorkina, a Mexican frozen treats and sweets business that began with her love for paletas.
From the inside front cover:
From the pure, radiant flavors of classic Blackberry and Spicy Pineapple to unexpectedly enchanting combinations such as Sour Cream, Cherry and Tequila, or Strawberry-Horchata, Paletas is an engaging and delicious guide to Mexico’s traditional—and some not-so-traditional—frozen treats.
Collected and developed by celebrated pastry chef Fany Gerson, this sweet little cookbook showcases her favorite recipes for paletas, those flavor-packed ice pops made from an enormous variety of fruits, nuts, flowers, and even spices; plus shaved ice (raspados) and aguas frescas—the delightful Mexican drinks featuring whole fruit and exotic ingredients like tamarind and hibiscus flowers.
Whether you’re drawn to a simple burst of fresh fruit—as in the Coconut, Watermelon, or Cantaloupe pops—or prefer adventurous flavors like Mezcal-Orange, Mexican Chocolate, Hibiscus-Raspberry, or Lime Pie, Paletas is an inviting, refreshing guide guaranteed to help you beat the heat.
Paletas has also received a number of very positive reviews on Amazon.com:
Just reading the recipes my mouth was watering. I love the variety of the ice pops, while there are the traditional ones like lime and watermelon there are many others such as avocado, spicy pineapple, and yogurt with berries. The shaved ice and frescas recipes are just as appealing and just as creative for both kids and adults. I also like the suggestions on what to use for the molds if you don’t want to buy any, example; tall shooter glasses. A must for people wanting an alternative to the fructose based, fake flavorings and food dyes of the store bought ice pops.
- M. Robinson
Reading this book is like discovering air conditioning for the first time. Its that different. These paletas are not the popsicles of your childhood. They are often clever. They are always surprisingly good. You can bring these popsicles out of the closet for any event- casual or sophisticated. They are fun, easy and the first time guests break out into a grin when they try them, you’ve made your money back. The Shaved Ice and Aqua Frescas portion of the book can be considered a dividend. If global warming continues –and it will– this book will be worth its weight in gold…wait, it already is. Try it. You’ll thank me later.
- Gary Putnam
Really? $11 dollars for the secrets of freezing s***?
My spouse’s exact words after getting the invoice as we share an account; he would have never known but I got this via kindle. I’ve only just made the spicy pineapple, but it was seriously mind blowing. Our friend has made us some paletas from this book and they were equally as delicious and unique. The BEST $11 dollars I have spent in a while. You should get this book NOW. You won’t regret it.
- Casa Clark
My review: I love this book, Paletas by Fany Gerson. If you have ever spent any time in Mexico and have had the chance to try a paleta, you know what a treat they are. Most towns in Mexico have at least one paleteria, the small shops that sell paletas. They are also often sold from push carts and kiosks.
Paletas are not like the frozen, artificially-flavored, chemical-laden frozen pops you may be thinking of. Paletas are generally made with fresh fruit with water and a sweetener added. There is a second type which are cream-based and are usually made with dairy such as whole milk or heavy cream. Paletas are available in a wide array of flavors.
But now you can make your own! Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops, Shaved Ice & Aguas Frescas is an excellent book. It starts out with a history of Paletas and how the author came to selling her own. There are a few pages on the basics – ingredients, molds, and freezing. And then a few pages on raspados and aguas frescas, which is what the second & third chapters are about.
The first chapter, Paletas features probably two dozen different recipes. From the common strawberry paletas to the more exotic ones like spicy pineapple or spiced tomato-tequila.
One of my favorites so far is the blackberry paleta:
4 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen
1 2/3 cups water
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Put the blackberries, water, sugar, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Stir in the lemon juice.
If using conventional molds, divide the mixture among the molds, snap on the lid, and freeze until solid, about 5 hours. If using glasses or other unconventional molds, freeze until the pops are beginning to set (1 1/2 to 2 hours), then insert the sticks and freeze until solid, 4 to 5 hours.
The author, Fany Gerson, states the mixture isn’t strained because part of the awesomeness is enjoying the little seeds in every bite. Just personal taste here but I don’t like the seeds and strained them out when I made this recipe. They were still awesome!
One of the more unusual recipes in the book is for avocado paletas. Sounds a bit strange but I want to try them. I haven’t yet but plan on making them soon. The author says when she made them they soon became a customer and personal favorite.
The second chapter of Paletas is about raspados. Raspados are basically flavored, shaved ice. What we used to call snow cones, though the photographs in the book make them look much more inviting than I remember them. I haven’t tried any of the recipes for raspados yet so I can’t really comment on them other then to say they sure look good, especially on a hot summer day. I particularly can’t wait to try the spicy mango raspados.
The third chapter of Paletas, is devoted to aguas frescas. Aguas frescas literally means “fresh water” and is a drink that falls between soda pop and fruit juice. They are made from fruit, seeds, grains, nuts, and herbs, and are generally sweetened with sugar. There are probably a dozen or so different recipes in this section. A couple of the ones on my list to make are the Hibiscus Cooler and the Fizzy Orange Cooler.
Another thing I like about Paletas is there are a lot of very nice photographs – not one for every recipe but enough. I really like this little hardcover book and would highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest.
If you want to make paletas, you will eventually want to get a mold set. I like Tovolo’s Groovy Ice Pop Molds. Others must as well – they have received 4.5 stars on Amazon from more than 200 reviewers:
Meet The Next Big Small Brand: La Newyorkina
Fany Gerson is the founder and owner of La Newyorkina, a small batch Mexican paletas (ice pop) business based in New York City
An interview with Fany Gerson, owner of La Newyorkina and author of Paletas.