Experiment 639: Jolly Rancher Freeze Pop A few days back, @theogeo asked me, “Grandpa, what were freezer pops like back when you were my age?” Back in 1996-1997, there existed a mighty beast of a frozen confection known as the Jolly Rancher Freeze Pop. It was, as implied by its name, a freezer pop that tasted JUST LIKE A JOLLY RANCHER (Its existence has been documented by others—I am not an insane old coot). Then, an asteroid hit earth, and the terrifying monster occupying our freezers went extinct. Until today. Using Jolly Rancher DNA and the finest science, I have re-created the Jolly Rancher Freeze Pop. You will know that science was involved because there are metric measurements. Ingredients: A big-assed bag of Jolly Ranchers. Water You will need a big-assed bag of Jolly Ranchers because if you buy a normal-sized bag of Jolly Ranchers you won’t have enough to make even one tray of an individual flavor, and not even half a tray of grape, but will have no shortage of “blue.” Hardware: Ice Cube Trays A glass you can stick in the microwave Measuring implements Toothpicks Plastic Wrap If you have something fancier, like popsicle molds, you can use those. If you have one of those vacuum sealers, you could probably make actual freezer pops out of the plastic sheeting, but I’ll leave those experiments to others. Step One: Figuring out the measurements Each Jolly Rancher candy has enough DNA to make 25 mL worth of freezer pop mix. That’s 1.7 tablespoons, which is why this recipe is in metric units. As it happens, the ice cube trays I’m using produce ice cubes that are precisely 25 mL, so it made measuring ridiculously simple. See Figure 1. You’ll note that I didn’t have enough Cherry to make a full tray, or enough Grape to make even a half tray. This is because I bought a normal-sized bag of Jolly Ranchers. Also, Cherry is almost undetectible from Watermelon these days, so read. I had 14 Cherry candies, which translates to 350 mL of mix, so I unwrapped the candies, put them in a beaker, and filled it to the 350 mL line, as shown in Figure 2. (Yes, it doesn’t look like 350 mL in the picture. Bite me.) Step Two: Extracting the DNA Microwave it on high for two minutes, which results in molten lava candies at the bottom of slightly-red water. Stir. The candy gloop will stick to your spoon. Keep stirring, and eventually it will all dissolve, as shown in Figure 3. Your beaker (or coffee cup, or whatever) will be near boiling at this point. DO NOT REACH IN AND GRAB IT, OR IF YOU DO, DON’T SUE ME BECAUSE I HAVE WARNED YOU. Let it cool down. You can cool things faster by putting the container in an ice bath, but I didn’t take a picture of that, and you’ll have to figure it out for yourself. Step 3: Setting up the samples Now, for the pouring of the mix into the ice cube tray. Leaving a couple of blank spaces is okay. Cover with plastic wrap, as shown in Figure 4. Poke a toothpick through the plastic into each space, and (if your mixture isn’t pretty cold already) chill in the refrigerator, as shown in Figure 5. Why chill it in the refrigerator? Because of the thermodynamic properties of freezing water, if the mixture is still at 100°F when you put it in the freezer you’ll end up with big chunky ice crystals instead of fine delicate ones. It’s okay if you want to skip this step, though. Step Four: Resurrecting the beast Move the ice-cube trays to the freezer. As shown in Figure 5, but in a freezer this time. Go away for a couple of hours, and you will be rewarded with the re-creation of the fabled Jolly Rancher Freeze Pop. If you eat them all, you will get a whangin’ sugar headache. “Hooray, Fancycwabs! You’ve saved Summer!” Yes, yes. I should warn you NOT TO MIX STRAINS OF JOLLY RANCHER DNA, BECAUSE HORRORS WILL BE UNLEASHED INTO THE WORLD. Unless you find some lemon Jolly Ranchers. Grape-lemon or Cherry-Lemon Jolly Rancher Freeze Pops might just be improving on what Nature intended. Also, no Fire-Stix Jolly Rancher Freeze Pops. This ain’t Alinea.

Experiment 639: Jolly Rancher Freeze Pop

A few days back, @theogeo asked me, “Grandpa, what were freezer pops like back when you were my age?”

Back in 1996-1997, there existed a mighty beast of a frozen confection known as the Jolly Rancher Freeze Pop. It was, as implied by its name, a freezer pop that tasted JUST LIKE A JOLLY RANCHER (Its existence has been documented by others—I am not an insane old coot). Then, an asteroid hit earth, and the terrifying monster occupying our freezers went extinct.

Until today.

Using Jolly Rancher DNA and the finest science, I have re-created the Jolly Rancher Freeze Pop. You will know that science was involved because there are metric measurements.

Ingredients:

  • A big-assed bag of Jolly Ranchers.
  • Water

You will need a big-assed bag of Jolly Ranchers because if you buy a normal-sized bag of Jolly Ranchers you won’t have enough to make even one tray of an individual flavor, and not even half a tray of grape, but will have no shortage of “blue.”

Hardware:

  • Ice Cube Trays
  • A glass you can stick in the microwave
  • Measuring implements
  • Toothpicks
  • Plastic Wrap

If you have something fancier, like popsicle molds, you can use those. If you have one of those vacuum sealers, you could probably make actual freezer pops out of the plastic sheeting, but I’ll leave those experiments to others.

Step One: Figuring out the measurements

Each Jolly Rancher candy has enough DNA to make 25 mL worth of freezer pop mix. That’s 1.7 tablespoons, which is why this recipe is in metric units. As it happens, the ice cube trays I’m using produce ice cubes that are precisely 25 mL, so it made measuring ridiculously simple. See Figure 1. You’ll note that I didn’t have enough Cherry to make a full tray, or enough Grape to make even a half tray. This is because I bought a normal-sized bag of Jolly Ranchers. Also, Cherry is almost undetectible from Watermelon these days, so read.

I had 14 Cherry candies, which translates to 350 mL of mix, so I unwrapped the candies, put them in a beaker, and filled it to the 350 mL line, as shown in Figure 2.

(Yes, it doesn’t look like 350 mL in the picture. Bite me.)

Step Two: Extracting the DNA

Microwave it on high for two minutes, which results in molten lava candies at the bottom of slightly-red water. Stir. The candy gloop will stick to your spoon. Keep stirring, and eventually it will all dissolve, as shown in Figure 3.

Your beaker (or coffee cup, or whatever) will be near boiling at this point. DO NOT REACH IN AND GRAB IT, OR IF YOU DO, DON’T SUE ME BECAUSE I HAVE WARNED YOU. Let it cool down. You can cool things faster by putting the container in an ice bath, but I didn’t take a picture of that, and you’ll have to figure it out for yourself.

Step 3: Setting up the samples

Now, for the pouring of the mix into the ice cube tray. Leaving a couple of blank spaces is okay. Cover with plastic wrap, as shown in Figure 4. Poke a toothpick through the plastic into each space, and (if your mixture isn’t pretty cold already) chill in the refrigerator, as shown in Figure 5.

Why chill it in the refrigerator? Because of the thermodynamic properties of freezing water, if the mixture is still at 100°F when you put it in the freezer you’ll end up with big chunky ice crystals instead of fine delicate ones. It’s okay if you want to skip this step, though.

Step Four: Resurrecting the beast

Move the ice-cube trays to the freezer. As shown in Figure 5, but in a freezer this time.

Go away for a couple of hours, and you will be rewarded with the re-creation of the fabled Jolly Rancher Freeze Pop. If you eat them all, you will get a whangin’ sugar headache.

“Hooray, Fancycwabs! You’ve saved Summer!”

Yes, yes. I should warn you NOT TO MIX STRAINS OF JOLLY RANCHER DNA, BECAUSE HORRORS WILL BE UNLEASHED INTO THE WORLD. Unless you find some lemon Jolly Ranchers. Grape-lemon or Cherry-Lemon Jolly Rancher Freeze Pops might just be improving on what Nature intended.

Also, no Fire-Stix Jolly Rancher Freeze Pops. This ain’t Alinea.

8 months ago
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