Paletas de fresa con crema - Mexican strawberry popsicles

Paletas de fresa con crema are Mexican strawberry popsicles that have a wonderful balance of creaminess, bright fruitiness and cool refreshment. They're really easy to make with only three ingredients, and perfect for a warm day.

This post may contain affiliate links, where we earn from qualifying purchases. See more details in the policy page.

Mexico is one of those places where you can have many wonderful food experiences, and for me, one that really stands out from my first visit involved ice cream. While I've always enjoyed frozen treats, this was a whole new level of tastiness.

There was a small town that we took groups to from the center I was based in, mainly to visit the market, pottery stores and old monastery. But for those in the know, there was also a local ice cream chain that was well worth making time for. The selection was vast, and everything I tried on my few visits was delicious.

Cooling treats are a big thing in Mexico, which is not too surprising given the heat in much of the country. But what I really love is both the unusual flavors and natural ingredients. This is true both of the ice creams in stores like the one I visited, and popsicles both in stores and, even more commonly, sold by street vendors.

How are Mexican paletas different from typical popsicles?

Although it's a slight over-generalization, popsicles/ice pops that you find in the US, and many commercial brands sold elsewhere, tend to be primarily water, sweetener and flavorings. The flavorings all too often are artificial and many have various colorings added, too.

Paletas, meanwhile, are traditionally only natural ingredients. Many use fruit as the base, either blended fruit like mango paletas, or using the juice, like lime. Then you'll find other flavors like coffee, coconut or horchata.

While paletas are still generally sweetened - you kind of have to sweeten most frozen treats to get the flavor to come through properly after freezing - it tends to be less. And for fruit-based versions, much of that sweetness comes from the fruit as well.

Paletas fall into two main groups: water-based and milk-based. It's similar to the sorbet versus ice cream difference, just in on-a-stick form. But unlike ice creams, creamy paletas are really easy to make. There's no churning, and you don't have to make a custard base.

True, you can lower the chance of getting ice crystals with a little corn syrup, corn starch or other thickeners such as gelatin, but I have to say I don't really think these need that. Yes, you might get some slightly icier bits depending on your freezer/moulds, but the flavor and creaminess means you soon forget it and just enjoy.

Choosing and preparing the strawberries

While on the whole these are super simple, the key is, maybe not surprisingly, the strawberries. You are going to taste them, so you want to pick ones that are ripe, fresh, and ideally ones you know will have a good flavor (so more local ones in season are generally better than ones flown from far away).

If they are a little over-ripe, just cut off any bit that has gone bad if the rest looks fine. The good bit almost certainly has a better flavor than an under-ripe one. 

After that, you simply blend up the strawberries, and the syrup that formed, with the cream and pour into your popsicle moulds. Just make sure you have them relatively full, so it will hold the sticks, but with a slight gap to allow for expansion. Then try to be patient as they freeze before you enjoy.

Strawberry paletas (paletas de fresa con crema) are such simple and delicious Mexican strawberry popsicles that are packed with tasty flavor, and so easy to make. Simple ingredients that give deliciously fruity, creamy and refreshingly cool results. Perfect to cool you down on a warm day.

Try these other sweet strawberry recipes:

• Easy strawberry mousse (so simple and delicious)
• Strawberry tiramisu (a fruity twist on the classic)
• Strawberry rhubarb crisp (combining sweet and tart, and wonderfully comforting)
• Plus get more Mexican recipes and snack recipes in the archives.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

Remember to pin for later!