Not your toddler’s Rainbow Popsicles — these healthy fresh fruit popsicles are made with exotic fruits like mango, dragon fruit, papaya, golden kiwi and black raspberry to tempt the most sophisticated palates. They’re completely sugar free!
Can you tell I love color? One look at my recipe index tells the story, I love colorful food, the bolder and brighter the better. Natural color in food signifies flavor, nutrients, freshness and vitality so I say bring it on. These fruity Rainbow Popsicles are a frosty celebration of all that.ย Each bright stripe is a puree of ripe summer fruit that I layer up in random order just for fun. You can limit yourself to one or two, or go all out like I did.
This is one part art project, one part recipe. When it’s too hot to be outside, this is a fun way to pass the time, and when you’re finished you’ll have the world’s prettiest (and healthiest!) treat.
Since I’m working with relatively small amounts of each ingredient for these rainbow popsicles I use my mini food processor — it’s a breeze to get all my fruits pureed and I just rinse the bowl out between batches. All kinds of fruit can be pureed and frozen so there’s no need to stick to the same old same old. Farmers markets and even your produce section is a wonderland of varieties if you’re open to experimentation. Right now there are lots of different melons and stone fruit in season, but there’s always something new to try if you keep an eye out.
TIP: For sharply defined stripes, make sure your purees are chilled and each layer is frozen solid before you add the next. Rap the mold sharply on the counter after you add each layer to even it out. And finally, use vividly colored fruit to get the best effect. I like to use at least one green (kiwi or honeydew) one very pale or white fruit (dragon fruit, coconut) a couple of vivid fruits (raspberry, papaya) and finally at least one deeper tone (blueberry, blackberry) so you get a nice variation of shades.
My popsicles are made with papaya, mango, dragon fruit, golden kiwi, both black and red raspberries and honeydew melon. This is a great way to use up leftover fruit since you really only need one piece for each layer.
TIP: The colors of some fruit like blueberries and blackberries can be too dark to show up when they’re pureed. In that case I’ll add a little bit of yogurt or coconut milk to the puree to bring out the color.
There isn’t a person on the planet who can resist these fun pops and luckily they couldn’t be better for you because there’s nothing in them but pure fruit. Fruit supplies natural sugar in the form of fructose, along with plenty of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They’re the perfect finale for a picnic or barbecue…and I guarantee they’ll get lots of oohs and aahs.
TIP: I don’t use the top that comes with my popsicle mold because it can sometimes be tricky to remove after the popsicles have frozen. Instead, I put a piece of foil over the top and poke the popsicle sticks through. The foil keeps the sticks straight while the popsicles freeze, and tears away easily when they are completed.
Here are a few other suggestions for slightly off-beat fruits to try for these popsicles…
- plums and pluots
- pineapple
- peaches or nectarines (leave the skins on for a mottled effect)
- grapes, especially concord (be sure to strain out the seeds after you puree)
- guava
- passion fruit
- fig
- cantaloupe
TIP: I use a funnel to layer the purees neatly and easily into the popsicle mold. I clean up any stray splatters from the inside of the mold before moving on to the next layer. If the puree is too thick to go through the funnel, thin it with a little water.
These pops are a variation on my original Whole Fruit Popsicles from a couple of years ago. I also did a similar striped pop using fresh juice in place of the puree, here. With the record heat we’ve been having it just makes sense to cool down with healthy fruit popsicles…skip the ice cream and layer up!
TIP: When you remove the popsicles from the mold, don’t immerse it for longer than a few seconds at a time in the hot water or your popsicles will start to melt and they won’t look as sharp. Check to see if they will slide out after 6 seconds, if not, try just a few second more.
Rainbow Popsicles
Ingredients
- 1/2 ripe papaya
- 1 ripe mango
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 cup black raspberries or blackberries
- 1/2 honeydew melon
- 1 dragon fruit
Instructions
- Scoop the seeds from the papaya and than scoop out the flesh. Puree in a small food processor until smooth.
- Peel the mango with a serrated peeler and slice the meat from around the large pit. Cut in chunks and puree.
- Puree the the red and black berries.
- Cut the honeydew in chunks and puree.
- Cut the dragonfruit in half and scoop out the flesh. Puree.
- It's helpful but not essential to chill all the purees.
- Put the first layer in the bottom of each of 10 popsicle molds. This layer can be as thick or as thin as you like. You can make identical popsicles or mix and match the order of your stripes. Put the mold in the freezer and freeze until the first layer is solid --- approximately 1 1/2 hours.
- Set down your second layer, and then cover the top of the mold tightly with foil. Make a tiny slit in the center of each opening with the tip of a sharp knife, and then slide a popsicle stick in. Freeze again for 1 1/2 hours.
- After the second layer is frozen and your sticks are set, you can remove the foil. Continue to layer the popsicles until they are full.
- To remove the popsicles fill your sink with hot tap water and immerse the mold up to, but not over, the top lip of the mold for about 6 seconds. If the popsicles don't slide out, immerse it for a few more seconds. Use immediately or wrap in plastic and return to the freezer.
notes:
- Make all the fruit purees ahead of time and make your popsicles a day or two later if you need to. Just keep the purees covered in the refrigerator.
- For an ombre effect, choose fruits in one color family, like orange, pineapple, mango and papaya.
- I don’t recommend using frozen fruit because the re-freezing process will affect its taste and texture.
don’t forget to pin these healthy Rainbow Popsicles!
25 Comments
Jules @ WolfItDown
August 17, 2016 at 1:24 pmI usually have a popsicle from the freezer whenever it is super warm, but it is normally the store bought one that causes your blood sugar to shoot up in the roof! Always too sweet for me… These here popsicles on the other hand – they sound like my kinda treat! ๐ I’ve added you to my watch list so that I can look all these recipes up! <3 Thanks so much for the inspiration ๐ x
Sue
August 17, 2016 at 8:56 pmWelcome in, Jules <3
Mae
August 15, 2016 at 7:55 pmThese look great!
2 sisters recipes
August 11, 2016 at 5:15 pmWow these are beautiful pops !! Full of flavor And healthy? …what could be better? great idea Sue !! Enjoy the rest of your summer !!
Laura | Tutti Dolci
August 9, 2016 at 7:14 pmSuch pretty pops, Sue! Love the vibrant layers!
Robyn @ Simply Fresh Dinners
August 5, 2016 at 1:17 pmYou can call these POP-ART! I’m with you, Sue, colour is where it’s at and I need lots of bright, beautiful colour to entice me. I believe it’s the best way to get your kids eating well too.
These truly are fabulous and should be nominated for World’s Best Popsicle!
grace
August 4, 2016 at 8:23 amGORGEOUS! prettiest pops ever, no contest! and delicious too, great ingredients. ๐
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
August 4, 2016 at 6:24 amGreat tips and such beautiful popsicles! I must make a batch before the heat is gone (it doesn’t last nearly as long here ๐
Karen @ Seasonal Cravings
August 4, 2016 at 5:01 amLove these tips…I was having trouble getting the pops out of the mold without the ends melting. These are so beautiful!
Maggie @ Omnivore's Cookbook
August 3, 2016 at 6:58 pmThese popsicles are totally for adults ๐ Love the idea of using pureed fruits! So healthy and taste great too ๐
Chris Scheuer
August 3, 2016 at 6:24 pmThank you for all these wonderful tips Sue. What a great tutorial! You are truly a popsicle artist. Pinning and sharing!!
Tricia @ Saving room for dessert
August 3, 2016 at 5:29 pmWhat an amazing rainbow of color and flavor! You really raised the bar on these beautiful pops! Love all the fruit and also love how healthy!
Susan
August 3, 2016 at 12:14 pmThese sound like a lot of fun. When reading your instruction, they said to remove concord grape seeds after pureeing – I think you need to get the seeds out first. I’m reminded of when I decided to make tangerine marmalade and used the 1mm blade for my food processor, and it took seemingly forever to pull out all those seed slicesโฆ
Sue
August 3, 2016 at 12:30 pmGood point, I think it depends on your processor, mine didn’t slice the seeds up and it was easy to strain them out.
cheri
August 3, 2016 at 9:44 amArtistic indeed, little masterpieces!!!! I love the way you approach food Sue, these are really beautiful, who could resist these?
Sue
August 3, 2016 at 1:14 pmThanks Cheri, these pretty much sum me up ๐
John/Kitchen Riffs
August 3, 2016 at 9:16 amGorgeous pops! SO pretty. And I’ll bet SO tasty. Thanks!
Jagruti
August 3, 2016 at 8:45 amWhat a gorgeous and colourful ice pops they are..so healthy and tempting..love love your pics ๐
swayam
August 3, 2016 at 8:25 amOH MY GOD!! where have these been hiding?? I love love love your blog! and these are brilliant. Pinning and sharing on FB tomo ๐
Sue
August 3, 2016 at 8:27 amI’m so glad you stopped by, thanks Swayam ๐
Tania
August 3, 2016 at 8:11 amHealthy colorful goodness! These popsicles look AMAZING!
peter @Feed Your Soul Too
August 3, 2016 at 6:22 amI totally love the look of these. The colors make it look so flavorful – because it is. Shared all around.
Meeta
August 3, 2016 at 6:14 amOh yes Sue! Love these – we were thinking of making similar popsicles too and these are awesome. To to puree all the fruit I brought back from the market! Hugs for these bright colorful and cheerful treats!
Amanda
August 3, 2016 at 6:11 amWow! These sound incredible and look beautiful!I love the combination of fruits.
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August 3, 2016 at 5:15 amolala….these ice pops are terrific!