TOP 5 recipes with photos of making original ice cubes at home. Culinary tips and secrets. Video recipes.
In hot summer, the demand for soft drinks and chilled meals increases. Prepare for the summer heat and fill your freezer with delicious ice to cool and keep your drinks cold for longer. You can freeze any liquid in a different unusual form and creative design. Below are the TOP 5 recipes for making original ice cubes.
Secrets and tips of chefs
- Ice absorbs odors well, so there should be no other food in the freezer next to it.
- Use only purified or distilled drinking water. No tap and mineral richness.
- Ice from the water should be transparent. If it is cloudy, it means that bad water was used or it was frozen incorrectly.
- If air is trapped in the ice cubes, the ice will melt quickly and will not cool the drink.
- You can freeze ice cubes in a special mold. Or use silicone candy molds. Small silicone muffins and muffins are also suitable.
- Frozen ice cubes can be stored in tins in which they were frozen. Or release them and pour into any convenient box or bag for further storage.
- The freezing time for ice cubes depends on the temperature in the freezer and the size of the trays. If a bubble is visible in the center of the cube, the ice is not yet ready.
- The shelf life of homemade ice in the freezer is unlimited.
- To crush the ice into small crystals, place the cubes in a plastic bag. Use a wooden mallet or any blunt kitchen object, such as a rolling pin, to strike smoothly, not very hard, so as not to tear the bag.
- An alternative way to crush the ice is to use a food processor with a ripple setting.
Fruit ice
Ice cubes with whole fruits will decorate a glass of non-alcoholic and alcoholic cocktails, champagne, punch, sangria, lemonade, fruit drink …
- Calorie content per 100 g - 15 kcal.
- Servings - Any Amount
- Cooking time - 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- Fruits
- Water
Making ice cubes with whole fruits:
- Boil water and cool to room temperature.
- Place the washed fruit in special trays and fill the cells with water.
- Place them in the freezer and freeze them.
Another way to make popsicles is from fruit puree or syrup. This berry ice can be added to any cocktail.
Ingredients:
- Strawberries or any other fruit - 220 g
- Sugar - 110 g
- Lemon juice - 10 ml
- Carbonated water - 100 ml
Making ice with fruit puree or syrup:
- Wash the strawberries, cut into quarters and puree. For ice from fruit puree, place the resulting mass in tins and send to the freezer.
- For fruit syrup ice, put the puréed mass in an ovenproof container and add the sugar and lemon juice.
- Stir the mixture and heat over moderate heat for 5 minutes.
- Skim off the froth, add sparkling water to dilute the syrup and stir.
- Pour the mass into molds when it cools down to room temperature, and send it to the freezer to freeze.
Ice with lemon
The most popular version of ice with lemon is mojito cubes, where lemon is complemented with mint leaves. This is a marvelous thing on hot days, and is also great for sodas or plain water. And instead of lemon, you can use lime, and mint leaves - lemon balm or basil.
Ingredients:
- Lemon
- Mint
- Boiled water
Making ice with lemon and mint:
- Wash the lemon, dry it and cut into small wedges.
- Wash the mint leaves and separate from the stem.
- Arrange lemon wedges and mint leaves in molds.
- Pour boiled water over them and send them to the freezer.
Another idea for making lemon ice cubes is to freeze lemon juice, which will cool tea, martini, champagne.
Ingredients:
- Lemon - 2 pcs.
- Boiled cold water - 100 ml
Making lemon cubes from juice:
- Wash the lemon, dry it and squeeze out the juice. To do this, use a citrus press or squeeze the juice by hand and strain through a fine strainer.
- Mix the juice with water and pour into your favorite molds.
- Send them to the freezer to freeze.
Coffee ice
Coffee is a favorite morning drink for many. But in the summer, cold coffee becomes especially popular, which can be cooled with appropriate ice cubes. In addition, iced coffee pieces are an excellent cosmetic product.
Ingredients:
- Natural ground coffee - 1 tablespoon
- Water - 100 ml
Making ice cubes from brewed coffee:
- Pour coffee into a container and pour boiling water over it.
- Place the lid on the container and let the coffee brew well.
- Strain the drink through cheesecloth or a sieve and cool to room temperature.
- Then pour it into ice cube trays and place in the freezer.
Ice cream ice cubes are more suitable for making drinks than for cosmetic purposes. They can be added to cool various alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails, hot chocolate …
Ingredients:
- Instant coffee - 2 tsp
- Dry cream - 2 tsp
- Water - 100 ml
To make ice with cream coffee:
- Pour instant coffee and dry cream into a cup. Add sugar if desired.
- Pour the food with water at room temperature and stir well until completely dissolved. Milk can be used instead of dry cream and water.
- Pour the drink into ice cube trays and send to freeze in the freezer.
Ice for okroshka
Spicy ice from sheet puree in the summer should be in every housewife in the freezer. Small ice chips are a good addition to okroshka when you want to get colder. The recipe is universal, so you can add herbs to your liking.
Ingredients:
- Parsley - 1 bunch
- Dill - 1 bunch
- Green onions - 1 bunch
- Horseradish leaves - 1 pc.
- Chopped horseradish root - 1 tablespoon
- Chili pepper - 1 pc.
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Vinegar - 1 tablespoon
- Garlic - 3 cloves
Making spiced ice from puree sheets:
- Wash all fresh herbs (parsley, dill, green onions, horseradish leaves) and pat dry with a paper towel. Optionally add basil and cilantro leaves, coriander, celery, etc.
- Peel the garlic, the horseradish root - from the peel, and the chili - from the seed box.
- Fold all food into a chopper and smooth into a smooth paste.
- Add salt and vinegar to the green mixture and stir.
- Divide the spicy leafy puree into ice cube trays and place in the freezer.
You can also prepare green ice in a different way. Such cubes will be an excellent preparation for the winter, and are perfect for borscht and potatoes.
Ingredients:
- Parsley - 1 bunch
- Dill - 1 bunch
- Green onions - 1 bunch
- Water - 100 ml
Making ice cubes from fresh herbs:
- Wash the greens, dry and chop finely with a knife.
- Divide the greens mix into ice cube trays and fill everything with water.
- Send them to freeze in the freezer.
Ice plate for okroshka
Do you want to serve okroshka to the festive table in an original way? Make an unusual and very beautiful ice plate. This is a real summer hit. In an ice plate for okroshka, even the simplest dish will look luxurious.
Ingredients:
- Water - how much will it take
- Glass containers of different sizes - 2 pcs.
- Vegetables and herbs - any
Preparation of an ice plate for okroshka:
- At the bottom of the largest container, place any vegetables cut into circles and green leaves. It can be cucumbers, radishes, onions, peppers, parsley.
- Pour drinking water so that its layer is 1 cm. Shake the bowl to release air bubbles, otherwise the vase will be full of holes. Send the bowl to the freezer to solidify the bottom.
- Then line the sliced vegetables along the sides of the frozen ice-bottomed bowl. Put a slightly smaller container in it so that it stands on the icy bottom.
- Pour drinking water between two containers to form a bowl at least 1 cm wide.
- Shake again to release air bubbles and place in the freezer for several hours.
- When the ice is frozen, remove the ice blocks and place in a bowl of warm water for 15-30 seconds.
- Disassemble the structure to make an ice vase.
- Serve okroshka and other snacks in these plates, which should be served chilled. The ice plate will not melt quickly, even in the sun's rays it will last up to half an hour.
Other interesting ice cube options
Above are the recipes for the most popular ice cube options. But this is not the whole list. Ice cubes can be made from anything.
- Bright and beautiful ice cubes are obtained from watermelon juice, kiwi pulp and raspberries. Crush the products and mix with lemonade if desired. Add this ice to cocktails or use as a sorbet.
- Regular ice from water can be made in rainbow shades. Simply add food colorings to sparkling water or regular water.
- Make layered colored ice cubes with lemonade, pomegranate juice, and blackcurrant juice. To do this, pour one layer of juice into an ice mold and freeze it. Then pour the juice of a different color onto the frozen ice and freeze it again. Then add the third fruit juice.
- To cool tomato juice and bloody measure, freeze ice cubes from tomato puree or juice.
- Cola ice is suitable for cooling dark alcohol like rum, bourbon, cognac, brandy.
- The tea will be quickly cooled by ice cubes from black or green tea.
- You can add sourness to soda water by adding frozen cranberry juice to the glass.
Surprise your household on a hot day with drinks and dishes with original ice cubes. Happy experiments in creating unique ice cubes!
