Move over 31 Flavors – Corazón Purépecha takes the edge off the summer heat with unique hand-made popsicles, agua frescas, ice cream, and much more

Photos by Karen Pavone

In Mexico and much of South America, paleterias are ubiquitous. Even the smallest villages have a paleteria (or three), and you can also find them at pop-up streetside stalls and mobile pushcarts in plazas and parks. They are a time-honored summer tradition, with multiple generations of families making weekly trips to the local paleteria on hot days to indulge in cool, colorful treats such as paletas (popsicles), helados (ice cream), agua frescas (cold, fruity drinks) and other frozen goodies.

Paleterias are a little harder to find in Mendocino and Lake counties, however, but not impossible. Tucked into a couple of hidden corners of Ukiah are the two branches of paleteria Corazón Purépecha, neither of which look remarkable from the outside. But once you enter, it’s like walking into the center of a delicious rainbow.

The star of the show is the paletas themselves. Vividly colored, beautifully textured, and literally melt-in-your-mouth delicious, they are like miniature works of art.

“A paleta is basically ice cream on a stick,” said owner Elizabeth Echevarría. “There’s dairy and non-dairy versions. In the non-dairy paletas, it’s basically just fruit, sugar, and water, and for the dairy ones, of course, there’s also heavy cream in it. So it’s pretty simple and sort of healthy.”

Paletas are generally considered to have originated in the Michoacán region of Mexico, where Echevarría and her family are from. (In case you were wondering, the word “Purepécha” in the name of the store refers to an indigenous ethnic group from Michoacán.)

What primarily distinguishes paletas from American popsicles is the tradition of making them – typically by hand – with only the freshest ingredients, and nothing else. No fruit juice, no high fructose corn syrup, no additives. Echevarría proudly boasts that they don’t use any preservatives or artificial flavors, and that they buy their fruit from a produce company in Sonoma County.

“We always use fresh ingredients,” Echevarría noted. “We make them every week, and we only make what we need. So people are getting a fresh product that’s not stored for months in the freezer.”

Every Wednesday Echevarría, along with her husband Luciano and son Leonardo (who share the surname Mendoza), make 1,500 to 2,000 paletas in about 65 different flavors. It’s a very impressive, well-oiled operation.

The process involves first cutting up the fruit and other ingredients, blending them together, then pouring the mixture into popsicle-shaped molds. The sticks are added, then the molds are put into a flash-freezing tank. After 10-15 minutes they are removed, bagged, labeled, and sent to the fronts of the two stores.

The most popular paleta flavor is fresas con crema (strawberries and cream). Other flavors include bubblegum, cotija cheese and blackberry, eggnog and raisin, vanilla, pistachio, Oreo, tamarind, tequila, and pumpkin spice (in fall and winter).

There are also 20 ice cream flavors – Echevarría and her team make that on Mondays – as well as thirst-quenching agua frescas and raspados in flavors such as hibiscus, pineapple and cucumber, watermelon, and of course, strawberries and cream. You can also get assorted other mouthwatering sweet treats such as chocolate-covered bananas, fruit bowls, arroz con leche (rice with milk), smoothies, and yogurt parfait.

If you’ve got a hankering for something savory and spicy, there’s an entire menu of items to satisfy that craving. Highlights include the puercada (“dirty corn” that comes in a bag with mayonnaise and cotija cheese, topped with hot sauce and chili powder) and the Marucha-esquite, which combines Maruchan ramen, corn, salsa-flavored Tostitos, nacho cheese, mayonnaise, cotija cheese, and hot sauce.

The first Corazón Purépecha store opened on Airport Park Boulevard in Ukiah in 2015, powered by sweat equity and money the family had saved up. Echevarría had help from relatives in Santa Maria who ran their own successful paleteria and shared recipes that had been passed down through the family for generations.

The business was so successful that the family opened a second store next to the Raley’s on North State Street in 2017. Now they are set to expand again, with a third store opening later this year in Lakeport. Keep your ears and eyes open for more details on the grand opening date.

Corazón Purépecha has two locations in Ukiah: 1252 Airport Park Blvd. Unit B6, and 1311 North State Street. For more information, visit Instagram.com/ paleteria_corazon_purepecha