Pop Pops

Schools are starting back up and the summer weather is not as intense, but I'm still holding on to each bit of summer that I can. I love fall...but after fall comes winter and that's not my favorite season. It seems like I get to this point each summer and I realize all the summer foods and treats I haven't done yet and suddenly my menus and plans get a kick of summer. Summer salads, ears of corn, fruit pies, popsicles, etc. The big summer treat around would be the ever favorite popsicles. Otter pops, homemade pops, karate pops, you name it, we love it. Popsicles are referred to as cracksicles around here...once you have one you just can't stop and before you know it the whole box of otter pops is gone and sadness fills your soul. 

As a kid I always loved it when Mom would pull out the popsicle molds and we'd get to help her mix up the Koolaid and pour it in. It seemed like it took days for them to freeze and be ready to devour! I remember making Koolaid pops and juice pops, but it never occurred to me as a kid that you could make soda popsicles. Or can you? 

Melissa sent us in the following pin and her results when she tried to make them:

The Original Pin:

I have been looking for the original site for this photo for a while now and I just keep going in circles. Many link to http://www.diy-queen.com/2013/02/gummy-bear-popsicles/ as the source, but she even put up a link to a tumblr account she got the photo from. I followed the sources for a while and never found the original. Google Search failed me on this one too. So I have no idea where this photo originated from.  *update*: The original source was sent to us in a comment. Read to the end to find out what these really are and who made them.

The recipe on the diy-queen site has these as gummy bear and sprite popsicles, so that is what Melissa tried, and she wasn't too impressed with her results:

The Pinstrosity:

Definitely not the pretty and clear pops from the original photo. Melissa said "I don't think Sprite can be clear like in the picture while freezing.  I know distilled water freezes clear, but not Sprite. I think the picture is not Sprite!" And I think I agree. 

I've only tried to freeze soda once. For our last Halloween party that Em and I threw together we were going to make the frozen hand floating in punch treat. 

http://simplystated.realsimple.com/2009/10/06/creepy-treats-for-halloween/

We were serving clear soda (for our color changing cups) and didn't want the soda to get watered down with just regular ice, so we thought we'd freeze the soda into an ice hand. We filled the gloves and put them in the freezer...and forgot about them for the party. The day after the party I found them in the fridge and was said that we forgot the awesome ice hand. I opened up the gloves and out fell crumbly sprite ice. It didn't form a solid hand and it was more like separate ice crystals than a solid ice block. So even had we remembered to pull the hands out of the fridge, they wouldn't have worked anyway. So from that experience I learned that pop doesn't freeze solid...at least not really fizzy pop. 

So I'm thinking that Melissa is completely correct in saying that the original popsicles were not made with Sprite...or at least not fizzy Sprite. Maybe flat Sprite. Looking around online I did find a blog post with the same original picture but the caption said, "These ice lollies are perfect for your little ones, and look incredibly pretty too- simply place lemonade in an ice lolly mould and sprinkle in a few gummy bears for a unique treat." Now, that blog is based out of the UK, and UK and USA versions of lemonade are different. My cousin's fiance explained to me that the American lemon-lime soft drink and the UK lemonade are similar to each other. The American lemonade is called "traditional lemonade" or "homemade lemonade" in the UK. So I assume the writer was talking about UK lemonade/American lemon pop, but this did make me think that you could use U.S. lemonade (if you make it yourself with lemon juice-fresh or bottled-lemonade isn't as yellow as commercially produced and dyed lemonade)  and have this turn out a little more successfully than with Sprite. 

I did find pictures of a lady who made the Sprite version and her pops are slightly less cloudy and crystallized than Melissa's, but still not the pretty clear version of the original picture:

http://zoomyummy.com/2013/07/15/gummy-bear-and-sprite-popsicles/

So I think this pin is popped. What do you think?

Update:
You readers are awesome! If you see in the comments below the mystery was explained, but I'll tell you what they pointed out. These didn't turn out like the original picture because the original picture isn't even edible! Welll...it's not edible unless you like to eat soap. This is another case of a mis-captioned and mis-blogged photo. Check out the original soap item here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/99146372/gummi-bear-popsicle-soap-gummy-bear. This lady makes the coolest soaps, and they all look so yummy and edible. Bacon soap?! Chocolate Eclair soaps?! That's just awesome.

P.S. Does anyone else get a shudder of chills go through them when they think of the gummy bears in the pops? I know kids would love them, but it seems like they'd be really hard at first and then be slimy...hmm.