We love a color-blocked popsicle. You get to savor each juicy flavor as you work your way through the frozen treat, lick by lick by lick. In these tri-tone popsicles, there are different levels of sweetness and tartness with each layer: the white grapefruit is puckery and subtly bitter, the tangerine is bright and tangy, and the blood orange is rich, fruity, and subtly floral. They’re a scrumptious study in citrusy contrasts — with the looks of a sunset!

They’re also pretty darn healthy. They’re naturally loaded with vitamin C, and we’ve only added a modicum of sugar — just enough to make them the perfect balance of puckery and pleasantly sweet. They’re an easy playdate snack, and any visiting adult dignitaries will enjoy them too.

Our tip: Any citrus will work here, the only trick is to layer the colors. If you love grapefruit, a ruby red grapefruit can be quite stunning with a white one! Or a triple decker of lemon, lime, and pink grapefruit.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh-squeezed white grapefruit juice (1 to 2 grapefruit)
¼ to ½ cup superfine sugar, to taste, divided
1 to 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided
1 cup fresh-squeezed blood orange juice (3 to 4 blood oranges)
1 cup fresh-squeezed tangerine juice (3 to 4 large tangerines)


Special equipment: 3 pint-sized Mason jars, 8-well popsicle mold, and 8 popsicle sticks

Directions

1. In a clean Mason jar, combine the grapefruit juice, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Taste to see if it has the right sweetness and tartness for you, bearing in mind that, when frozen, the juice will taste more subdued. Add more sugar and lemon if needed. Set aside.

2. Using a clean Mason jar for each juice, repeat step 1 with the tangerine juice and again with the blood orange juice, using the same amounts of sugar and lemon juice. Cover tightly.

3. Chill the tangerine and blood orange juices in the refrigerator.

4. Fill each of 8 popsicle molds ⅓ full with white grapefruit juice and carefully insert the sticks. Freeze the popsicles, making sure they're level and upright, until firm to the touch, 4 hours or overnight.

5. Once the first layer is frozen, shake the tangerine juice to combine. Fill each mold ⅔ full with tangerine juice. Freeze until firm to the touch, 4 hours or overnight.

6. Once the second layer is frozen, shake the blood orange juice to combine. Fill each mold with the blood orange juice. Freeze until firm to the touch, 4 hours or overnight.

7. To unmold, run warm water over the individual molds just until the popsicles release from sides, 5 to 15 seconds.

Recipe source: Sunset Magazine