concord grape and melon pops

this was my first time splurging on concord grapes at the greenmarket. i wish i had not waited so long to try them! their concentrated and juicy flavor is a real summertime treat. they are delicious eaten fresh, frozen, or blended up with a sweet melon in my recipe for concord grape and melon ice pops!

i bought an adorable small melon called a sprite melon. it is very similar in flavor to honeydew, only a bit crunchier and without the green coloring.  if you don't have sprite melons in your area, a honeydew melon would work perfectly-it will just have a brighter green hue.

once i tried the concord grapes, i knew their flavor would be a sweet pairing for the melon.

start off by seeding the melon, and chopping the flesh into pieces. you'll be blending it up, so the uniformity of the pieces doesn't matter.

rinse the grapes and separate them from the stem. you'll need roughly 2 cups of melon and 1/2 cup of grapes for the recipe.

combine the melon with the juice of one lime, or about 2 tbsp. add 1 tbsp sugar (this will help the ice pops release from their molds) and blend well in a blender (i used an immersion blender).

once the melon mixture is smooth, reserve half to the side. 

add the concord grapes to the remaining half, and blend until the mixture is smooth except for some grape skin 'confetti' pieces.

if you are using the zoku pop maker, pour in the grape and melon mixture to fill the molds about halfway. let it freeze a bit, and then you can pour the plain melon mixture up to the fill line.

if you are using traditional pop molds, you can either keep the plain mixture refrigerated while the grape section is freezing, or you can just combine the two and make the pops in one color.

once the pops are done freezing, you can remove them from the molds. either enjoy immediately, or store them in a container in the freezer. depending on how much of each mixture you add and how firm the first grape mixture is, you can achieve a perfectly divided ice pop, or a more free form line.

melon recipe base inspired by zoku quick pops book
concord grape and melon ice pops
makes 6 zoku ice pops (about 1 1/2 cups liquid)

ingredients:

9 oz chopped sprite or honeydew melon (about 2 cups)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice (from one large lime)
1 tbsp granulated sugar
3 oz concord grapes (a generous 1/2 cup)

directions:

1.   combine the chopped melon, lime juice and sugar in a blender.

2.   blend until the mixture is smooth. reserve one half of the mixture and place it to the side.

3.   add the concord grapes to the remaining melon mixture in the blender, and blend until there are no more chunks of grape (pieces of skin are ok).

4.   fill the ice pop molds (either zoku or traditional freezer molds) halfway with the grape/melon mixture. let freeze completely.

5.   once the grape/melon mixture is frozen in the mold, pour the plain melon mixture into the molds, up to the fill line. let freeze completely.

6.   once the pops are completely frozen, remove from the molds and enjoy!


tips:

- if you refrigerate the blended mixtures before making the popsicles, they will freeze faster.
- if you don't want to wait for the mixtures to freeze separately, just combine them for a bright purple colored pop