Q&A: What’s Poppin’ with Cielito Artisan Pops

Photography by on June 19th, 2018 in Editorials, Lifestyle

Miami, FL – June 19, 2018 – Located in the heart of Wynwood, Cielito Artisan Pops is Miami’s first artisan ice pop store of its kind, offering a variety of delicious pops to please every palate! Each ice pop is hand-crafted daily in small batches, made just for you. Cielito features locally sourced ingredients from fruity pops, ice cream pops, and DIY pops. Cielito creates every filling and jam in-house from the freshest seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Their inventive, rotating flavors will awaken your taste buds and keep you coming back for more, so World Red Eye had to get the inside scoop with owner Sindy Posso, to talk all things sweet treats about what makes these so pops so unique and decadent! #CIELITOWYNWOOD

Sindy Posso

WRE: Tell us a little bit about yourself? 

SP: I’m an architect by trade and I’ve been living in Miami for the past 13 years. I grew up in Colombia surrounded by a family that spends lots of time in a kitchen!

WRE: What made you decide to open Cielito Artisan Pops?

SP: I always had this project in my mind. Since generations, my family had been involved in the bakery and ice cream business. My thing was architecture and interior design, I always wanted to blend these things together so, when Wynwood started to evolve as a culinary and art destination, everything came together. We started looking for a space, and when found it we just we said we got to do it. We came up with this concept in order to extend our love and passion for healthy and tasty treats outside our family. We opened in Wynwood in Spring 2017 and this our first location.

WRE: What was your first job in food industry and what did you learn from it? 

SP: I’ve been in a kitchen since i was a little girl, watching, asking, eating the left overs, but I never was part of it. This is my first serious job in a kitchen. Now, I understand why everything has to be perfect, why you have to start all over a recipe that already was finished. Ingredients are the most important part of a recipe. Quality is nonnegotiable.

Our shop is a true representation of who we are. From the moment you approach our store, you’ll be surrounded by greenery, nature, colors, and wood. It’s a fresh, natural look that speaks to the ingredients you’re about to discover once you step inside!

Sindy Posso

WRE: Where do you draw your creative inspiration from to create Cielito Artisan Pops?

SP: My grandma’s ice cream recipes inspire the pops. I changed a few things to make them more fun, more visually interesting but kept the original content.

WRE: Walk us through the steps of making an ice pop?

SP: The way we make ice pops is not the main stream way pops are made. At Cielito we make everything in house from scratch, from the ice cream base to the fillings, jams, and baked goods we add to our ice pops. We first make ice cream base from scratch with fresh dairy products. It is a pretty lengthy process that involves pasteurizing the ingredients, cooling down and aging the mix in order to achieve perfect taste, consistency and creaminess. This in fact the way ice cream was made long time a ago, the tendency today is to either buy a ready made ice cream base or make one using powder milk, gums, artificial emulsifiers, and/or preservatives (it is much cheaper and less time consuming). For sorbet or water based fruit ice pops we simply use the actual fruits that we cut daily and macerate to make the mix that is later frozen in the form of ice pops.

Passion Fruit Pop

Sindy Posso & Passion Fruit Pop: dipped in dark topped with almonds, chocolate chips, & white chocolate crisps

WRE: What is a fun fact people don’t know about Cielito Artisan Pops?

SP: Maybe it was not funny then, but we tend to laugh about it now. We opened Cielito a couple of days before hurricane Irma; we had to close and due to the power outage we had all our production melted. Not the best way to start a business right? We cleaned up the kitchen with 4 cellphone flash lights. Anyway, we got back on track pretty fast with the help our family and friends; and the response of the customers was unbelievable.

WRE: What was the most elaborate Cielito Artisan Pops ever made? 

SP: Bacon possible was a challenge; we caramelized the bacon with maple syrup and brown sugar. As a result, we made a very unique ice cream pop. There are others that are more elaborate because they involved multiple processes; like our passion fruit sorbet with layers of passion fruit mousse and brownies.

Mascarpone Cheese Pop: filled with Cielito’s homemade blueberry jam

WRE: Describe the design inspiration of the shop?

SP: Our shop is a true representation of who we are. From the moment you approach our store, you’ll be surrounded by greenery, nature, colors, and wood. It’s a fresh, natural look that speaks to the ingredients you’re about to discover once you step inside! You can count on a visual and sensory experience, from the moment you lay eyes to the second you take your first bite. From the kitchen faucets pouring chocolate, to a toppings bar with a variety of tempting options, to meringue that can be flamed to order with a blowtorch, you’ll be in for a treat.

Coffee Cream & Marshmallows Pop, Watermelon Pop, Pineapple-coconut Pop, Pineapple-jalapeño Pop, Raspberry-kiwi Pop, & Passion Fruit Mousse & Brownie Pop

Watermelon Pop & Pineapple-jalapeño Pop

WRE: In the future, do you have any plans to open more store locations? 

SP: My team and I are having a lot of fun with this first store, and we want to make sure we do not compromise quality. We think we are ready to open one or two more locations this year.