Weekend Project: Make Refreshing Paletas for the Summer

Morealia Gourmet Paletas is the result of three friends venturing to Brazil, eating tons of popsicles during their trip, and carrying the experience home with them to Miami. “We saw an opportunity there and thought that we could do a better one,” says Alex Kassab, one of the cofounders and chief marketing officer of Morealia. So he and his co-founders bought a small machine and started crafting paletas in their favorite flavors, testing out the frozen treats on friends and family. They took trips back down to Peru, Brazil, and Argentina for research and experimented with new techniques. “Once we started cracking the code, we decided to open up a paleteria in Miami,” he says, “because it’s an international city and people love culture and experiencing new things.”

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But Kassab doesn’t want Morealia to be just a place to grab popsicles. Instead, he and his partners envisioned Morealia as an experience: “It’s that 20 minute extension of your day, enjoying good quality conversation with a significant other, your kids, parents, whoever—that's what we're trying to accomplish.” The popsicles are just a bonus.

Morealia Gourmet Paletas opened its first location in the suburbs of Miami in 2016 and have since opened an additional nine locations across Florida and one in Charlotte, North Carolina. The best part of the paletas experience is being able to customize your popsicle to your liking. “You can come up with a [recipe] either on the healthy side or on the delicious side, or whatever is your thing,” Kassab says. At Morealia, there are always 16 flavors available that rotate depending on the season.

Morealia has creamy concoctions, like fudgy brownie, peanut butter cup, and stuffed dulce de leche paletas, as well as more sorbet-like popsicles in flavors like mango, strawberry, and lime. Customers can choose to have their popsicles dipped in an array of chocolates, cookie butter, and hazelnut spread and then rolled in toppings like crushed nuts, sprinkles, and shredded coconut. “You can actually come up with way over a million different combinations,” Kassab laughs.

That being said, the fan-favorite and best-seller—across all 11 locations—is the cookies and cream paleta, filled with both crushed Oreo cookies and a whole Oreo. Sometimes, the simplest treats are the best.

“Even if you create your own popsicle at home, you can still add your own peanut butter cups and other stuff that  you like,” Kassab says. He encourages creativity in the kitchen, especially for those who can’t make their way to Florida or North Carolina to experience his paletas. “Come up with your own combination.”

Ingredients

Directions

1. Mix everything and put it in a popsicle mold, with a stick. 

2. Freeze and enjoy.

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