Gianni's Fruit Splits

What is it?

A split is a two-part lolly with a fruit ice on the outside and a creamy centre, and it has been in the British freezer for generations. The construction solves the problem a pure water ice has. Fruit ice alone is refreshing but thin and melts to coloured water, where a dairy centre gives body and something to reach after the sharp outer layer has gone. Strawberry, pineapple and blackcurrant is a characteristically British selection. Blackcurrant in particular is far more common here than in the United States, where cultivation was restricted for much of the twentieth century to control a tree disease. It became a British standard during wartime, when blackcurrant and rosehip syrup were given to children after citrus imports stopped.