Strawberry Pineapple Lime Popsicles

It has been scorching hot outside all week here, and though I love warm weather, I don't love the kind of heat that feels like it's suffocating you!  I would give anything to have a backyard with a cool, refreshing pool these days, but since I don't think my apartment building plans to turn the parking lot into an outdoor pool any time soon, I've been settling for the next best thing for cooling off - popsicles!  (okay, maybe the second next best thing, after a cold beer)

This was my second attempt at making homemade popsicles this year, and I took a much different approach with these than my last attempt.  My banana date popsicles were yogurt-based, which gave them a creamy texture, but these strawberry pineapple lime popsicles are fruit-based, so they have more of an icy texture that's similar to the standard storebought kind, if that makes sense?

I can't decide which ones I liked better - they're both so good!

With strawberries at their peak right now, I've been buying them faster than I can eat them, so I decided to use some of my extras in a popsicle.  I also had some pineapple to use up before it went bad, so I combined the two, along with some lime juice and a bit of honey for added sweetness.

The sweet strawberries and honey are perfectly balanced by the tart pineapple and lime in these juicy popsicles, and I love that they're sweet enough to eat for dessert but are still natural and healthy (and full of lots of vitamin C!)

As you can see from the pictures, I spent a little too long photographing my popsicles and they were starting to melt quite a bit towards the end!  I couldn't help it though, I just loved the bright colours that photographed so well!

I should also mention that I attempted a swirling pattern in these by pouring the pineapple and strawberry mixtures into the molds separately, then swirling them together a little with a knife.  Unfortunately, it wasn't until the last popsicle that I realized it works a lot better if you alternate pouring the two mixtures in layers so they're more evenly distributed.  I just poured them in two equal parts, so you can see how the pineapple part was mainly at the bottom and got a little overwhelmed by the strawberry colour.  I still think they look pretty though, and now you can learn from my mistake!

Below is a picture of an almost eaten popsicle so you can get an idea of the fruity texture.  It's quite different from the last picture in my banana date popsicle post, but like I said, I still love them both!

Hope you all stay cool and have a great weekend!

Pineapple Strawberry Lime Popsicles

Adapted from Jennifer Murray on About.com

Makes 4-6 popsicles, depending on the size of your popsicle mold

Ingredients:

1 cup diced strawberries

1 cup diced ripe pineapple

4 teaspoons fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons honey (optional)

Directions:

Add strawberries, 2 teaspoons lime juice, and 1 teaspoon honey to a blender and blend until smooth.  Transfer to a glass or measuring cup and rinse out the blender.

Blend the pineapple, remaining 2 teaspoons lime juice, and 1 teaspoon honey until smooth.  Transfer to a second measuring cup.

Alternate pouring pineapple juice and strawberry juice into each popsicle mold (I found alternating two portions of each worked best), then use a knife to gently swirl together (but not enough so that they complete blend into one colour!)  Freeze.

I had to add one more picture of my plate after I'd removed the melting popsicles - I thought it looked so pretty!