Blend 2 cups frozen strawberries with 1/4 cup honey and 2 tablespoons water until completely smooth—I let mine run about 90 seconds because frozen fruit needs real time to break down. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon agar-agar powder by hand, which prevents lumps from forming when you pour.

Spoon the red mixture into popsicle molds until they're one-third full, filling from the bottom up so the layers don't shift when you add the next color. Let these sit in the freezer for exactly 15 minutes—any less and the layers blend, any more and you'll fight getting the next layer to stick.

While red sets, blend 1 cup frozen blueberries with 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt and 2 tablespoons lemon juice until the texture turns completely smooth—personal confession, I tasted this version and almost ate it straight. Add another 1/4 teaspoon agar-agar powder and stir until no powder specks float loose.

Pour the blue mixture on top of the red layer, filling each mold to the two-thirds mark, then freeze for another 15 minutes because the agar needs time to set or your layers compress into one another. This waiting part is what separates actual 4th of july rocket pops family recipe from the mushed versions you might've made before.

Blend 1 cup frozen mango with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons water until you get a pourable consistency—the mango freezes faster because it's naturally denser, so you only need 12 minutes for this final layer to set. Add the last 1/4 teaspoon agar-agar powder and mix thoroughly.

Fill each mold to the very top with mango mixture, then insert wooden sticks and freeze for at least 2 hours until solid, though overnight is actually better because the layers fuse properly. I learned this the hard way when Connor yanked one out after 90 minutes and the blue layer just slid right off.

Run warm water over the outside of each mold for 5 seconds—not hot water, because that ruins the color—then gently push each popsicle up from the bottom. The agar-agar actually helps here because it releases cleaner than gelatin does.

Whip together 1 cup whipped cream with 1 tablespoon olive oil and brush the top of each rocket pop, then roll in 1/4 cup chopped pistachios for that patriotic green accent. These need to stay in the freezer until serving, or the topping slides right off.