Pineapple Chili’d Ginger Cream Pops

Summer loving’, had me a blaaaaast. Summer lovin’, happened so faaaaast. Made some ‘sicles, cute as can be!

Summer. Popsicles. ‘Nough said! — Pineapple Chili’d Ginger Pops for a summer chill and twist. These ain’t yo’ momma’s pops.

I was recently asked by Billy over at Wit and Vinegar to take a dip in the public popsicle pool for the sweetest event of summer — 2015 Popsicle Week! He curates this synchronized show each year. Head over there to see all of the other sultry sweets of the week. Plus, read everything that he has ever posted. You’re welcome.

My Wit and Vinegar 2015 Popsicle Week Fangirl Art.
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When I think of popsicles, I immediately have a childhood flashback of the long tube ones that you would buy in a box of 100 and throw into the freezer for what seemed like an everlasting eternity before they were ready. You would be soon damn excited about convincing your mom to grab the high-dollar $5 box of basically cheap Kool-Aid to freeze into pure summertime happiness. And then, you’d cut your mouth on the cheap plastic trying to get it open without scissors.

Since I’m all old now, and old people are suppose to be more…. refined *Mrs USA hand wave*, I decided to try for something a bit more complex. Sorry grape pops that brought upon glorious Dimetapp dreams (I still crave that stuff), you have to take a seat for this summer. It’s all about the kick now. Chili’d (which keeps getting flagging like it isn’t a real word… pfft. ridiculous.) candied ginger powder is my new summer fling.

Just like that “…waaaaaaalkin’ on sunshine” gal on Intervention, ginger was already something I happen to be completely addicted to. Ginger beer, ginger beer cupcakes, ginger snaps, ginger ale, thai ginger errryrthing. You get my drift. It’s sorta weird, though. I am a total baby when it comes to spicy, but I want my ginger hot, hot, hawt. None of that sugar water ginger beer junk. It needs to burn a little when it’s going down.

I think I’ve pretty well accomplished that here. I made candied ginger (which is insanely easy) with a splash of chili powder and cayenne. Once you candy ginger, the heat isn’t nearly as obvious. This takes care of that. We’ll just blitz it to oblivion before we sprinkles the pops for a nice added surprise. Spice babies, don’t fret. It’s not all that hot in the grand scheme. We are just giving it a pinch to balance the tart pineapple and sweet cream layers.

I used some tall shot glasses as the molds. They had a nice rounded bottom and require you to sterilize each with a pour of your favorite liquor before using. Alternatively, you can find tons of cheap options HERE on Amazon. Really just about anything freezer-safe should work.

It was a bit of a task to get these out properly since I didn’t use the traditional popsicle stick. The flat surface on those elementary building blocks helps to give you some grip. Kabob skewers were my choice. A bit of warm water over the glasses and they came out pretty well.

Pineapple, sweet cream, bits of chili’d candied ginger(!). These layers seriously have everything that make anything amazing.

Dive in, summer. This one’s for you.