Sitting on the concrete floor of my mother’s friend’s flowershop I sorted and searched through the little plastic pieces for the right colour. Pop, pop, pop the little pegs broke through black paper, twinkling as they released the light.
I followed the Lite Brite
And then a question, asked casually and without pressure, that would open a whole other world.
“Oh J”, called from across the room, “do you know about the colour wheel?”
Within moments of those six coloured pegs being arranged in a circle on the back-lit board my young life changed.
Red and yellow made orange, yellow and blue made green, blue and red made purple and then all again.
It was at once completely logical, yet entirely magical, and from that point on everything existed as a rainbow (or if it didn’t I tried my hardest to make it so).
A pastel rainbow painted by hand stretching from the decorative princess window over my bed across the wall to the doorway, Crayons and pencils re-orgainsed in their packs into perfect rainbows. Later, clothes on shelves and hanging bars organised first by item then by colour (starting with red and ending with purple before the pinks, whites, greys, browns and blacks filed in).
Rainbow anything and everything because it was pretty and made me happy.
Now of course I also adore rainbow food however most of it is pretty scary. I brainstorm all the time about how I could make rainbow cakes and pancakes and bread using natural colours, last year I even managed to make a rainbow of Natural Food-Based Easter Egg Dyes.
So when popsicles came up as a SABH theme, tackling the rainbow was a given.
Sydney is seriously lacking in decent popsicle moulds and so off I went to search the internets. These very traditional ones
Both mad science and the creative distraction gene feature heavily around here, so it should be no surprise that out came the heat sealer
As for the fillings, while they aren’t quite a pure rainbow — blue turned a lovely deep lavender (Blueberry Coconut); white/pale pink ended up orangey-tan (White Nectarine & Lychee) and moved way up the rainbow; the intended orange pop turned out quite yellow (Mango & Orange) bridging the gap between red and green; and black was closer to a dark red than a dark purple (Spiced Plum & Black Cherry) — they certainly are lovely none the less.
I would be perfectly happy with any of these as large popsicles, straight-up fruit or with a boozy adults-only twist, but there is something terribly fun about the little tubes, wouldn’t you agree?
Oh, just in case you are wondering, my closet is still colour coordinated in rainbow order, as are all the spools of thread in my sewing box. Hey, a bit of OCD never hurt anyone — especially when it makes everything pretty.
——
A quick resource list
- Disposable plastic tubes
- Disposable plastic tubes (in AU)
- Reusable, classic popsicle moulds
- Reusable, silicone tube moulds
(commenter recommendation, thanks Elizabeth!)
- Heat sealer
Rainbow Fruit Popsicles (Ice Pops)
Each recipe makes approximately 1 1/2 c of liquid.
Number of popsicles depends on the size of your moulds, multiply recipe as desired.
Berry Lemonade
INGREDIENTS
- 1 c quartered strawberries
- 1/2 c water or apple juice
- 1/2 c fresh or frozen thawed raspberries
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
METHOD
Puree strawberries and water or juice until smooth. Lightly crush raspberries and stir in with lemon juice.
Pour into moulds and freeze.
ADULTS ONLY: Stir in 2 Tbsp vodka before pouring into moulds.
——
Nectarine & Lychee
INGREDIENTS
- 4 nectarines
- 12 lychees
METHOD
Cut a shallow ‘X’ in the base of the nectarines, plunge into boiling water for 1 min then cold water. Peel off skin and remove stone. Remove peel and seed from lychees.
Puree fruit until smooth.
Pour into moulds and freeze.
ADULTS ONLY: Stir in 2 Tbsp bourbon before pouring into moulds.
——
Mango & Orange
INGREDIENTS
- flesh from 1 mango
- 2 oranges, peeled and seeds removed
METHOD
Puree orange until frothy. Add mango and puree until smooth.
Pour into moulds and freeze.
ADULTS ONLY: Stir in 2 Tbsp Tequila before pouring into moulds.
——
Sparkling Pineapple & Ginger
INGREDIENTS
- 1/3 fresh pineapple
- 1/4 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 c sparkling water
METHOD
Puree pineapple and ginger until smooth. Stir through sparkling water.
Pour into moulds and freeze.
ADULTS ONLY: Replace half the sparkling water with sparkling wine (or all…)
——
Honeydew Lime & Mint
INGREDIENTS
- 1/3 honeydew melon
- 1/4 c lime juice
- 1 – 2 Tbsp rice syrup or maple syrup to taste
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped mint
METHOD
Puree melon and juice until smooth. Add syrup to taste and stir through mint.
Pour into moulds and freeze.
ADULTS ONLY: Stir in 2 Tbsp rum before pouring into moulds.
——
Blueberry Coconut
INGREDIENTS
- 1 c fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/4 c orange juice
- 3/4 c coconut milk
METHOD
Simmer berries and juice 5 mins. Blend berry mixture with coconut milk until smooth.
Pour into moulds and freeze.
ADULTS ONLY: Stir in 2 Tbsp dark rum before pouring into moulds.
——
Spiced Plum & Black Cherry
INGREDIENTS
- 3 black plums
- 10 black cherries
- 1/2 c water
- pinch ground cloves
- 1/2 c sparkling water
METHOD
Remove stones from cherries and plums, chop roughly. Simmer fruit, water and cloves for 10 mins.
Puree until smooth and stir through sparkling water.
Pour into moulds and freeze.
ADULTS ONLY: Stir in 2 Tbsp gin before pouring into moulds.
—–
Tips
- Use a thin funnel or a turkey baster to fill the tubes.
- Leave about 1 inch between your juice and the top of the tube and pinch out the air before sealing – this allows the filling to expand as it freezes without bursting the plastic.
- Make tubes from plastic zip top bags or vacuum sealer bags or get these. If using zip top bags you will want to cut off the zip first as it won’t seal properly on the edge.
- Place on a dry baking sheet to freeze.
vegan // vegetarian // soy-free // dairy-free // nut-free // refined sugar-free
Once again it’s time for Sweet Adventures Blog Hop and our guest hostess is the dessert queen Swah from Love Swah with her Popsicle Party theme. Thanks for hosting!
SABH is a monthly blog hop brought to you by JJ from 84th & 3rd and guest hostesses.
Make sure to check out all the other creations that have been linked-up below.
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I love this insight into your (slightly wacky) rainbow life! And I could like 10 of these on a Summers day.
haha slightly wacky is a pretty good way to describe my life in general ;D
I looooovvvveee these! The colours and fruit combos are so bright and vibrant! And I want those plastic Zipzicles! But I would have to borrow your heat sealer! Well done with this pops JJ!
Thanks Anna! Your girls would go crazy for them.
Just gorgeous JJ both the photos and the flavours. You are a clever girl indeed. Long shall the rainbow rule!
yes, rainbows for all!
Love it JJ! My wardrobe is in colour order as well, I like the way it looks and I swear it makes it easier to find things! All these popsicles sound delicious, such perfect flavour combos (and I especially love the adults only options for each!)
It does make things easier ;D
These remind me so much of the ice pops we used to buy at the tuckshop in Primary School! Those were good times. They were called Zooper Dupers for some reason.
A rainbow of fruity ice pops, wonderful!! They look delicious and I am impressed the amount of effort you went to for all those flavours!!
Great idea, they look yum! I haven’t joined in this month as I don’t have moulds. It’s a shame I’m not as creative as you as I do of course have a food saver!
of course you do ;D
These are fabulous and so is the idea of a heat sealer 🙂 A gorgeously colorful post. I love it!
Wowser, so pretty! I can see those adult versions making a very fun dinner party treat.
thanks and yes, definitely!
That is so you, totally adore your colour wheel story. Gorgeous pops JJ, tasty sounding too.
These whole-fruit ice pops are absolutely brilliant! They remind me of my childhood (Lite Brite too!) But your version is obviously SO much better. Great flavor combinations! Yum 🙂
i used to love these when i was a kid. used to order them all the time at the canteen. wonder if they’re still around?
absolutely loving these fresh fruit pop ideas! so perfect for summer!
Wow!
Some awesome flavours here!! Your popsicles are so inspiring, I’m glad I fell into your blog and SABH in December 🙂 *new fan*
Welcome!
These sound amazing. And such a great idea to heat-seal your own tubes!
JJ I think you have outdone yourself. These are magnificent! Now I want to go and order all the moulds too. Don’t worry I have a heat sealer/cryovac machine. It’s one of my most-used appliances.
Some how that doesn’t surprise me Claire 😉
Gorgeous pops, I love the brilliant hues and refreshing flavors!
Wow, memories. …and so beautiful. Nice work.
How clever you are. I love the variety of flavours and how good for you all of these are but most of all, I’m super-impressed that you were able to make the little tubes and seal them all. Something else for my wish-list! xx
i love love love ice pops. these are so great!
These are fantastic JJ. I’m loving your flavour combinations. And I am am crushing on your heat sealer (big time).
Thanks Tania! I have to giggle at how many people have said they have or want a sealer ;D
Now why didn’t I think about using those bags and make tubes. I have one of those machines too. Brilliant!!! I’m going to make some tomorrow.
These look delicious!!
But why use plastic???!?!?!?!?!
I just bought some ice pop molds from amazon and love them. Put in search icon, silicone ice pop molds, they are wonderful! One time buy!
This post is just enchanting! The longer I blog, the more I find I’m obsessed with the colors of food, I am definitely going to try these!
Can’t get any better! We have added link to the page from our FB page.
P.S – Our favorite is Mango and Orange
This reminded me of one of the popular summer treats that we have here in the Philippines – ice candy.
Here, usual flavors are:
~ buko (made with young coconut meat)
~ red mung beans
~ avocado
~ mango
~ chocolate
~ sweet corn
~ fruit flavors (using fruit-flavored powdered juices)
What great flavour combos! I’ll have to try some one day 🙂
Wow, these are so beautiful! I just ordered some zipsicle baggies so I can make some with my kids soon. Thanks!
That’s great, have fun!
These are gorgeous and I literally just had a craving for ice pops the other day but thought about all the yucky ingredients the ones I used to eat as a kid probably have in them!
Instead of using disposable non-biodegradable plastic, we use these reusable molds and they’re fantastic! http://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Maker-Molds-Free-Popsicle/dp/B00D9HQ30W/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1400697321&sr=1-2&keywords=popsicle+molds
Healthy for you and the environment!
Yes! I saw these after I did the post but hadn’t ever trailed them myself, good to hear you like them – now added 🙂
It’s summer here and I want all of them NOW! Luckily you shared the recipes so I can make my own 🙂 how lucky I am!
I absolutely loved these! Thank you so much for the recipes! I doubled all of them and did half with alcohol and half without for a college graduation party tomorrow (I tried them frozen in a ice cube tray). I made all of them except the Nectarine and Lychee (had to travel too far to get Lychee) and the Pineapple Ginger (there wasn’t a good substitute for sparkling water and I worried with the ice pop bags I was using that the “sparkle” would burst the bags.)
Since I was making them for a party I needed a disposable idea. I would highly suggest to anyone who doesn’t have a heat sealer to look at ice pop bags. The best brand I could find was a company that originated from Denmark (but sold from the US) The brand was Schur, a pretty common ice company. I ordered mine really cheap over ebay. 120 for 7.00. No BPA. The zipsicles are so expensive! And hard to fill. But other ice pop bags are made in China and I would be careful with them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9-5U1AZ2EY
This is a video on how to fill a Schur Ice pop bag, I used a turkey baster, because the stuff I was using was not just juice but pureed fruit.
The ice pop bags also fit exactly 1 1/2 cups of liquid.
They’re almost too cute to eat 😉
Quick question on the blueberry coconut milk popsicle recipe. Is that coconut milk in a can or coconut milk like in the dairy section that is made to replace milk? Thanks!
Hi Stephen, I used coconut milk from a can – most of the ones in the tetra-packs (sold as dairy milk substitutes) have loads of thickeners and chemicals so I avoid them. You can use whatever you prefer. ~ JJ
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