Patriotic Popsicles

The blankets are out, the food is grilling, and the fireworks are loaded. The 4th of July has fostered many nostalgic traditions we cherish and pass down through our future generations.  Most associate the perfect 4th of July dessert with brand-name popsicles or ice cream. However, we know these treats have not-so-sweet reality to them. For one, most of them aren’t made with real food… namely high fructose corn syrup, funky dyes that have numbers in their name and artificial flavors.There’s no greater time than now to reinvent our familial stories and traditions into healthier ones. As Sandor Katz said, “The revolution will not be microwaved.” And with the way things are headed, it appears that the revolution will also not be corn-syruped.  Thus, we felt a need to contribute a 4th of July sweet treat that will love and nourish the body. This triple-layer popsicle is a slam-dunk with both children and adults. However, if serving children that have spent some serious time on planet corn-syrup, you may want to slightly increase the amount of honey in these.The blueberry layer of the popsicle uses Phycocyanin, which is an extract of the dominant color pigment from Spirulina. It’s the closest thing I know to fairy dust and mixes with the blueberry to create a beautiful hue. This Phycocyanin molecule is very rare in nature and its only known source is from a variety of algae.The health benefits of Phycocyanin are seemingly as magical as the molecule, and its still young on the scene of nutritional research. It has been found to be neuro-protective, liver-protective, anti-inflammatory and may also promote stem cell production.| INGREDIENTS |RASPBERRY LAYER:

• 1 cup Frozen Raspberries
• ½ teaspoon Raw Honey

COCONUT LAYER:

• ⅓ cup Coconut Milk
• 1 teaspoon Raw Honey
• ¾ teaspoon Lime Juice

BLUEBERRY LAYER:

• 1 cup Frozen Blueberries
• ¾ teaspoon Lime Juice
• ½ teaspoon Raw Honey
• ¼ teaspoon Phycocyanin

1 | Place the frozen berries in two separate bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and let them thaw to room temperature.2 | Place a nut milk bag over a different bowl and add the thawed raspberries to the bag. Squeeze the berries through the bag to produce a puree. Once all of the liquid has been extracted, toss the pulp and rinse out the bag.3 | In a separate bowl, follow the same step to produce a blueberry puree from the thawed blueberries.4 | In yet another bowl, whisk together the coconut layer ingredients until smooth.5 | Stir the honey into the raspberry puree, then beat the lime juice, honey, and phycocyanin into the blueberry puree.6 | Now you will begin to freeze your popsicles. You can either make a layered popsicle or you can make an abstract popsicle with the layers combined. I tend to prefer the abstract look — as it appears more natural and also takes less effort.| ASSEMBLY |FOR LAYERED POPSICLES: Using popsicle molds, carefully decant the raspberry layer about ⅓ of the way up in each popsicle mold until it is gone. If you have a mold that holds the popsicle stick in place, you can add the stick in now. Freeze for an hour or so until the raspberry is mostly solid. Decant in your coconut layer on top, which should also be ⅓ of each popsicle. Freeze this layer for a couple hours until solid. Decant the remainder of the molds up to the top of the mold with the blueberry layer. If you have the kind of popsicle sticks that connect to the popsicle itself, puncture the popsicle with the stick at this point. Freeze overnight.FOR ABSTRACT POPSICLES: Pour in the coconut milk layer first, then the raspberry layer, and then the blueberry layer. Take a skewer and dip into all of the layers to create an abstract appearance. Put in your popsicle sticks and freeze overnight.Yields 3-5 popsicles depending on the size of your mold.