06/14

Ice, Ice Baby: Chic and Delicious Ice Cubes

Summer is in full effect and I’m going to show you how to keep it cool without watering you down.  These fun ice cubes are not just for the fancy pants crew. Yes, they are gorgeous and chic, BUT they serve a major purpose of chilling your drink without diluting your beverage.  I think you will love, love, love these pretty blocks of ice as much as we loved playing ice princesses in the Team Sims test kitchen. Cue the soundtrack from Frozen… parents, you know the words … and by “know” I mean the lyrics are seared into your brain from the movie being played at your home on repeat.

How to:

It’s super easy peasy.  You can use standard ice cube trays or have some fun with some cool shapes like hearts.

What I found easiest was using the silicone molds. Especially for the larger cubes, which are perfect for filling with yummy treats like we did with our blackberry & mint lemonade cubes.

First place your blueberries in, then add the mint and last step is adding the lemonade.  Be careful not to overfill and press down any foliage into the liquid so your cube stays flat.

You can add some serious floral magic to your beverages with these edible flower ice cubes.  We kept it simple and just added water to these beauties.  We didn’t want to take away from the vibrant colors of the flowers. These would be Perfect for a baby shower or Frieda Kahlo’s birthday party.

I’m a southern girl who loves her ice tea, but I also enjoy a good Arnold Palmer as well.  Because we loved the floral cubes so much, we decided to continue the flower power style with our tea cubes by adding chamomile flowers.  We used the adorbs heart cubes to show a little southern hospitality for my teatime friends.

For cocktail time, we decided to venture in a completely different direction by tackling the Bloody Mary.  We made spicy Bloody Mary mix cubes and added olives and Tomolives (Have you every had these?? They are briny delicious heaven). Remember vodka does NOT freeze so your cubies need to remain booze free.  Stay tuned for our popsicle post in a few weeks when I will reveal our homegrown spicy Bloody Mary recipe!!  You should sign up for our daily newsletter (on the right side of my site) so you don’t miss it.

In our ice madness we did what any self respecting test kitchen would do. We started experimenting with what we could freeze.  We won’t trouble you with our fails, but we will show the ultra chic cocktail stirrers we made with blackberries and raspberries.  Literally just skewer the berries and freeze. Brooks loved eating these.

All this cubing sure works up a thirst!!! Which brings us to our last ice cube pal.  We found these thin pencil-like trays at Ikea and wondered what they were for.  Turns out these little buddies are perfection for water bottles so we loaded them up with lemon and mint for a refreshing boost.

I hope you enjoyed our ice cube jamboree! I have some amazing Popsicle recipes coming your way later this summer.  What are some of your family’s favorite ways to keep cool during the summer months?