My husband is one of those people that has a million good ideas in a day. He’s always coming up with a new idea for a product, business, or way of doing things differently. In my opinion, his best idea was in 2011. We were on our way to a barbecue at a friend’s house, and he was in charge of cocktails. He grabbed a jar of horchata and a bottle of dark rum. So simple, that I doubted its deliciousness. I was proven wrong. So very wrong. Ice cold cinnamony horchata met spicy dark rum in my glass. And it was heaven.
A few years later, we saw Rumchata for sale in a liquor store. We missed our chance to be liquor millionaires, we suppose.
If you’re not familiar with horchata, you’re probably not from California or Texas, where taquerias always have a jar, dripping with condensation, on the counter. It is impossible to order tacos or a burrito without a glass of horchata. It’s a creamy, milky beverage (made of rice milk, actually) mixed with cinnamon and sugar. Sometimes I detect lime in it, too.
Three disclaimers:
True horchata is made with only rice milk, no dairy. But, rice milk is so watery, that, when frozen, it produces popsicles that are too icy. So, I stirred in some cream. (What problem in life isn’t solved by stirring in a little cream?)
Because the ground cinnamon tends to sink to the bottom of the popsicle mold, I infuse the rice milk with a crushed cinnamon stick to ensure every bite has cinnamon flavor in it.
Don’t be tempted to add more than 1 tablespoon of rum, as it can affect the freeze-ability of the mixture. I promise, even just one tablespoon of rum is detectable in these pops.
Bonus disclaimer: I didn’t make my own rice milk. I just bought it in the carton from Trader Joe’s. Best shortcut ever.
Boozy Horchata Popsicles
Frozen horchata popsicles! With rum or without!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups rice milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick, crushed
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the rice milk, cream, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove the mixture from the heat, and pour into a shallow bowl to facilitate cooling. Let cool for at least 30 minutes on the counter.
- Remove the cinnamon stick pieces (sieve it out), and then stir in the cinnamon and rum.
- Pour into popsicle molds. I got 8 popsicles out of this mixture, but if your mold doesn't have 8 spaces, just refrigerate the extra horchata and enjoy it over ice.
Notes
The rum is optional.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 114Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 33mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 0gSugar: 11gProtein: 1g
Oh my goodness. Christina, this looks like my dream summer dessert! I love horchata, so the idea of it frozen in a boozy popsicle is just too wonderful. And I’m digging your shortcut with pre-made rice milk from Trader Joe’s. Pinned!
I made these last weekend for a girls getaway, and they were a huge hit! I used just a little less rice milk and upped the cream a little because I was scared of icy pops. Also, I used about 1.5 tablespoons of rum and wish I had pushed the limit just a little more because I couldn’t taste the rum at all.
I like your thinking, did they turn out icy or creamy?