I couldn’t be more excited about today’s guest how-to, courtesy of Andi McDaniel, co-owner of 10,000 Licks, the Twin Cities’ new gourmet farm-fresh ice pop business. You can find these gals’ insanely delicious treats at the Midtown and Uptown Farmers’ Markets, beginning July 16th. They’ll also be sampling mini-pops at the Mighty Swell’s “Summer in the City” event…an idea, I think is, well, mighty badass. Learn more (and peruse flavors!) on their website here. And for goodness sake, become a fan on 10,000 Licks on Facebook! Take it away Andi…

My husband and I bought our house in Longfellow in late winter, when the entire yard was still covered in a stubborn layer of snow. So imagine my surprise—and delight—when the snow melted and revealed a wealth of edible riches—Blueberries! Rhubarb! Thyme! And best of all—the healthiest looking lavender plant east of California. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I’ve heard that lavender is finicky, and yet ours, miraculously, isn’t. But enough about our dumb luck. Let’s talk about how to turn lavender, and it’s flavor-soulmate, lemon, into delicious homemade ice pops. Because it’s finally summer and it’s best we forget about snow for awhile.

This recipe is actually the first “official” 10,000 Licks ice pop recipe my business partner shared with me the other day. We’ve been making our ice pops in our home kitchens so far (we move into a commercial kitchen on July 1), and as we’ve been test-driving recipes, we’ve each adopted our faves. I’m the Sweet Corn gal, as well as the steward of Rhubarb and Vanilla Beet. Meanwhile, Sarah is the genius behind Lavender Lemon. She’s been in charge of them—so I had no idea how to make them. I emailed her for the details and here’s the scoop.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

♥ Juice of six large lemons (makes about 1 1/2 cups juice if you use a juicer, so if you’re doing it by hand use extra lemons)

♥ Equal parts water (to match the lemon juice)

For the simple syrup:

♥ 1 cup of honey (raw is tastiest, I’ve found)

♥ 1 cup of water

♥ Approximately 4-5 tablespoons of lavender

 HOW TO

1. Juice the lemons.

2. Combine lemon juice with equal parts water (strain out lemon seeds and pulp if you’re doing it by hand).

3. Refrigerate lemon mixture.

4. Meanwhile, combine honey, lavender and 1 cup of water in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir to dissolve honey, then remove from heat almost immediately. Cover and let sit for as long as overnight or as little as one hour (if you can’t let it sit overnight, just use more lavender—it’s all about flavor potency!).

5. Once syrup is cool, combine with lemon mixture and poor into molds. (We use these.)

6. Freeze overnight.

Note: These pops would do fabulously as ice cubes, for use in the cocktail of your choice. If freezing in an ice cube tray, a few hours in the freezer will be plenty of time.

 Enjoy!