I'm always looking for uses for plant materials that are often overlooked or discarded because they're too fibrous to eat.
Wild carrot stems may appear thin and fragile, but are rigid and strong enough to support these popsicles.
Layering is one way to control progression of flavors.
Usually, in the context of a meal, flavors progress from savory to sweet.
Here, they move from sweet to savory, starting with wild carrot syrup, then on to naturally sweet casaba melon, and ending with fig leaf tea.
The popsicles were molded in silicone plastique molds made from test tubes.
Don't try freezing liquids in thin glass molds. Trust me.
Well, I know all about exploding test tubes; that’s what used to happen when the lab refrigerator’s compressor went haywire during the summer. If you can get them, test tube racks are great for holding the things vertically in the freezer.
Anyway, so much for the digression. From tip to stalk/popsicle stick you went wild carrot syrup, casaba melon, fig leaf tea? I take it that they were layered and frozen before the next flavor was added to the molds.
Was this served at the end of a meal? Entremet?
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Yikes, that sounds messy!
Yes, each layer was frozen in that order.
Certainly, a petite version could be served as part of a meal, but these were just an icy treat on a hot day.
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“just an icy treat on a hot day”
Pretty understated for an avant-garde popsickle.
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To clarify, you freeze only the plant stalks in the juice and bundle them up w/leaves and flowers later, correct?
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I can see why you’re confusion by all the plant material— it didn’t translate well into photos. Here’s what’s going on: I scattered wild carrot leaves on a white plate and covered them with a clear glass slab, then laid down 2 flower heads to support the popsicles. I chose sturdy stalks from the base of the plant with some small leaves attached. I inserted the stalks into the molds after pouring the melon layer and anchored them at the top of the molds with paper clips, which were removed after pouring the fig leaf layer. The leaves that you see at the base of the popsicles are the only ones attached to the stalks.
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