Peach Honey Chamomile Ice Pops (With Bourbon!)

by Emily Morris

When was the last time you had an ice pop? Was it one of those tongue-scraping plastic tube things that they give you at Field Day? Please don’t tell me you prefer Sno Cones. Those are awful, and nobody admits it because they’re afraid of messing with nostalgia.

Anyway, why eat crushed ice with cough syrup on top when you can make yourself a perfectly lovely frozen treat at home with not much effort? Specifically, these lush, peachy, honeyed ice pops, from a recipe kindly provided by Nathalie Jordi of People’s Pops. And one standout benefit of making ice pops at home: You can spike ’em with booze if you want. (These particular pops go best with bourbon and are thus a great excuse to carry your Bourbon Day celebrations through the weekend.)

Peach Honey Chamomile Ice Pop (with Bourbon!)

4 tree-ripened yellow peaches (20 oz)
2 slightly soft white peaches
1 bouquet fresh chamomile flowers (see substitution below)
2 fl oz (¼ cup) fresh honey
1 fl oz (2 tbsp) freshly squeezed lemon juice (½ small lemon)
a pinch of kosher salt
Optional: shot of liquor of your choice (Nathalie recommends bourbon)

Rinse, halve and pit two-thirds of the peaches, and puree (skin and all) until the mixture is almost smooth. Transfer to a container with a pouring spout and stir the honey, lemon juice, salt and three finely minced chamomile flowers in with the pureed peaches. Coarsely chop the remaining one-third of peaches and combine with puree. Add honey until you can taste it. (Note: Make pops a tad sweeter than you think. They lose a little sweetness after freezing.)

Pour the mixture into your ice pop molds (or Dixie cups!), leaving a little bit of clearance at the top for the expansion that occurs when liquids freeze. Insert sticks and freeze until solid, 4–5 hours. This will make ten delicious ice pops.

Let’s do this!

With the skin on, puree 2/3 of your sliced peaches. The remaining 1/3 will be added later. Add in the honey, lemon juice, salt and chamomile flowers.

My local farmer’s market did not have fresh chamomile flowers, so I used about ¾ of a chamomile teabag, which worked splendidly. If you’re mincing fresh flowers yourself (go, you!), use the fineness of tea flowers as a reference point. Those who prefer less of an herb flavor may want to use half a teabag.

Stir in the remaining peach chunks. Some people are babies about texture and resist the idea of chunks of deliciousness in their food. Don’t be afraid of the chunks! They’re the best part when the pops are all done. Because peaches are in season, they retain a lot of their juiciness even after they’ve been frozen. Chunks. Do it.

After the mixture was made, I split it in two and poured a shot’s worth of bourbon into one of my containers. According to Nathalie, “as long as less than 20% of the pop comes from alcohol, it should freeze fine.” Next time I might add a bit more honey to the bourbon mix to compensate for the alcohol flavor.

Pour the mixture into molds, leaving a little room at the top for expansion. The recipe makes ten pops, though I only had enough for seven thanks to my novelty rocket molds.* Now just wait until they freeze, obviously.

All done! There you have it. A heavenly pop made from simple ingredients, sure to cool you down on a hot summer day.

* Fun fact about peaches: pureed, their color is vaguely fleshy! Less vaguely so when frozen. My rocket-shaped pops were obscene.

Emily Morris is a summer Awl reporter.