ICY TREATS For Beating the Heat You can always go buy a box of popsicles, or find snow cones at the next fair or carnival. But how about whipping up your own frozen concoctions with the kids right now? Atlanta Parent staff tested some of the top products on the market for grinding and shaving ice, and for making popsicles. Here are our favorites.
Hawaiian Shaved Ice, Snow Cone Machine
S700, $24.95 (machine only); Machine plus “Ultimate” snow cone package, $59.95. hawaiianshavedice.com
Zoku Original Quick Pop Maker,
$49.99; Zoku Single Pop Maker,
$24.99. zokuhome.com
Serious about popsicles? If your family likes experimenting with recipes and healthy ingredients such as fresh fruit and yogurt, then the Zoku Quick Pop Maker is for you. The maker itself is a super-heavy mold unit to place in your freezer 24 hours before you want frozen treats. Whip up a concoction, fill the icy-cold molds, and expect frozen treats lickety-split. We tried a mix of chocolate pudding, low-fat milk and strawberries. When it came time to pour into the molds, however, we learned to be extra careful because the Quick Pop Maker really is quick. Filled molds start to freeze instantly. A pop is frozen solid in about five minutes; you can quickly make more while the mold is still cold enough. To get the pops out of their frozen “slots,” a special grip tool (included) screws into each pop’s reusable plastic stick. The “Lemonade” pops (fresh lemon juice, pure orange juice and vanilla extract) we tried next turned out so great, we felt like a professional! A popsicle aficionado will want Zoku’s own “Quick Pops” recipe book ($16.95), which provides recipes and instructions for making too-pretty-sicles such as the “Caramelized Banana Coconut,” “Cookie Dough,” or the “Rhuberry” (fresh rhubarb pop with embedded strawberry skins). A “tools” kit ($19.99) helps you make extra-cool designs on your popsicles such as waves, or “marbling.” Pros: You never knew you could make such gorgeous treats yourself! Maker is so sturdy, it seems it will last a lifetime.
Kids will love this easy-to-use machine. This snow cone maker requires little assembly, and the 5- and 7-year-old boys who helped quickly pushed the adult out of the way because “we want to do it ourselves!” After assembling the three main machine components, the boys dumped about two cups of ice into the bowl. We plugged it in, placed the lid over the ice, held it down and turned it slightly to the left to begin shaving the ice. The boys placed their cones under the spout and little chunks of snow quickly filled up their cones. Although the machine is available separately, we recommend choosing the “Ultimate” package because you’ll get a variety of flavor syrups, cups, straws and spouts – everything you need for a great day of snow cone making. Pros: Quick and simple assembly, snow cones ready in mere minutes. The machine’s blade is well covered, so no worries that little fingers could get too close. Cons: Ice not as “snowy” as you might get from an industrial machine, but it’s still a great cool treat for a hot day. – Kate Wallace
Cons: Getting the process “down” takes a little trial and error, but learning how to use the tools will prove well worth it. – Julie and Elly Bookman
24 Atlanta Parent July 2012
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