As teenagers, my girlfriends and I always identified certain songs as our “summer anthems”… songs that reminded us of staying up all night gossiping about boys or, as we got older, driving around with the windows down blasting our new favorite tunes. Teenage girls have summer anthems that are equal parts carefree bliss and angst over boys. Little kids have one summer anthem… whatever melody the ice cream truck in their neighborhood has jingling and jangling from their speakers. We’ve talked about ice cream trucks before… about old-fashioned ice cream sandwiches and fudge pops. About the wonder and merriment of being 8 years old and not having a care in the world during long summer days and nights. I mentioned in those previous posts about some of my favorite treats from ice cream truck and my quest to recreate many of them. With the upcoming 4th of July holiday next week, I thought it would be the perfect time to give those red, white and blue firecracker popsicles a go. Turns out, they’re incredibly easy and way more delicious than all of those artificial flavors and dyes!
The three layers of these pops are made of simple purees using strawberries and blueberries, with a middle layer of sweetened plain yogurt. Very little extra sugar is added, and the flavor is amped up with a little bit of lime juice, making these all-natural and a great healthy alternative to the store-bought (or ice cream truck-bought) treats. You can easily play around with the purees, increasing or reducing the amount of sugar based on your tastes or needs and even changing up the berries if you like. You could use raspberries instead of strawberries, blackberries instead of blueberries… mix and match… whatever your heart desires!
I used Tovolo Star Ice Pop Molds because they reminded me of the original firecracker popsicles, but you could use whatever molds you have on hand or catch your eye. After all, making them exactly how you want them is the beauty of creating goodies at home!
Make the Red Layer: In a blender, combine the strawberries, sugar and lime juice. Puree, scraping down sides as needed. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids; discard solids. Fill the ice-pop molds 1/3 of the way (you may have some strawberry puree leftover). Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
Make the White Layer: Whisk together the yogurt, cream, sugar and lime juice in a small bowl. Remove the molds from the freezer and top with the yogurt mixture, filling each another 1/3 of the way. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
Make the Blue Layer: In a clean blender, puree the blueberries, sugar and lime juice. Puree, scraping down sides as needed. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids; discard solids. Remove molds from freezer; insert popsicle sticks through the white layer. Top with the blueberry puree (again, you may have some leftover puree), leaving ¼-inch of free space at the top of the molds. Freeze until solid, 3 hours or more (or up to 1 week). Just before serving, briefly run molds under hot water to release the pops.
Love it! Wish I was a kid in pigtails worrying about nothing more than enough change to buy some ice cream from the ice cream truck. Those were the days!
These were one of my faves growing up, and now my kids love them too! I love these as a much healthier alternative! They are the new to-do item for this weekend! Berry picking first, popsicle making second, enjoy our fun work at the end of the day! :)
I awesomesauce this. I was never a huge fan of the firecracker popsicles growing up. I’d choose a chocolate dipped ice cream cone or a strawberry shortcake pop over those any day. But a homemade version…made with fruit purees? That’s a firecracker popsicle I can get behind!
I love this!! Perfect for any patriotic holiday. A great healthier spin on the ones I’ve seen made with koolaid. We are featuring cool treats this week on our blog and our first day was popsicles. I included a link to this recipe. Come check out our other recipes for “treats on a stick”. http://www.sistersplayinghouse.blogspot.com/2012/06/cool-treats-week-treats-on-stick.html
What is the purpose of the lime juice?
Flavor and texture.
Check out Everyday Food’s site for the video of these pops being made by the editor in chief.
http://www.marthastewart.com/907292/red-white-and-blueberry-pops
Such lovely pops!
Is there a way I could make this with lemon and lime only? Can you please tell me a recipe if you know one? Looks delicious btw
Hi Ananya, You should be able to just use lemon and lime juice if you’d like.
Thanks! love your blog!
But you would still add the sugar in each layer right? Sorry! :( I am really confused…
It really depends on how tart or sweet you want your popsicle to be. I would add sugar, but that’s just a personal preference.
So basically the only ingredients going into each layer are lime juice/lemon juice and sugar right?
Yes, if that’s how you choose to make them.
Love it! Wish I was a kid in pigtails worrying about nothing more than enough change to buy some ice cream from the ice cream truck. Those were the days!
I love the star mold! I linked to this recipe on my blog entry about making a t-shirt that looks like these pops! http://katydiddys.blogspot.com/2012/06/red-white-blue-popsicle-t-shirt.html
So cute! Love this idea!
Were they gone before they had a chance to melt? They look better than store bought!
These are perfect!! so festive!
Gorgeous pops and I like that they are healthy!
Steal My Sunshine has been and will always be my summer anthem! These looks yummy!
Yum, these look absolutely perfect!
those are so fun! gorgeous too!
GENIUS!! These are so cute!
These were some of my favorite popsicles growing up! I love that these aren’t loaded with sugar!
What a great idea!
You beat me to the punch, I am posting these babies on Monday! So incredibly easy and so much better than from the store!
I love this idea! Summer popsicles are the best – and I love the fresh fruit addition :)
When do you add the stick?! :P Last layer?
Hi Kristine, Before you pour the blueberry puree in; it’s listed in step #3 above.
Ah okay! Missed that one, hehe. Thanks :)
These were one of my faves growing up, and now my kids love them too! I love these as a much healthier alternative! They are the new to-do item for this weekend! Berry picking first, popsicle making second, enjoy our fun work at the end of the day! :)
I awesomesauce this. I was never a huge fan of the firecracker popsicles growing up. I’d choose a chocolate dipped ice cream cone or a strawberry shortcake pop over those any day. But a homemade version…made with fruit purees? That’s a firecracker popsicle I can get behind!
I LOVE these! I can’t wait to try them!
Ohh I remember eating these at the pool each summer – I always liked the white and blue bits best ;) Great molds!
That top photo is so stunning! These caught my eye on the cover of EF too, can’t wait to give them a try this summer!
I love this!! Perfect for any patriotic holiday. A great healthier spin on the ones I’ve seen made with koolaid. We are featuring cool treats this week on our blog and our first day was popsicles. I included a link to this recipe. Come check out our other recipes for “treats on a stick”.
http://www.sistersplayinghouse.blogspot.com/2012/06/cool-treats-week-treats-on-stick.html
These look perfect. Love that you made them with fresh fruit and yogurt.
Adorable! I remember having firecracker pops as a kind!!
Ahhh those summer days back when I was a kid…there was nothing better! These photos are gorgeous!!
These look delicious. I need to make some this weekend