Nothing says spring more than beautiful flowers! No matter who you are hosting, these floral ice cubes will be sure to add class and elegance to your gathering. They are perfect for a Mimosa Bar, your favourite cocktail or even a fancy backyard BBQ. Follow these how-to steps to make your own and to nail that perfectly clear ice.
directions
Tools needed: 2 ice cube trays that each make 6 1 1⁄2 by 1 1⁄2 inch ice cubes and 1 small cooler with a removable lid. Total Freezing Time: 13 hours
Pour distilled water into a kettle and bring to a boil. Allow water to sit for 10 minutes. Use the kettle to bring the water to a boil for a second time. Set water aside, cooling to room temperature. Skip this step if you don’t mind the ice cubes being a bit cloudy.
Pour water into your 1 1⁄2 by 1 1⁄2 inch ice cube trays three-quarters of the way full, making 12 ice cubes. Place filled trays into a small cooler without the lid. Freeze for 7 hours or until the ice cubes are half frozen.
Take half-frozen ice cubes out of the freezer and let sit for 10 minutes. Using a small knife, remove the top frozen part of the ice cube from the trays and set aside. If these ‘ice windows’ have any excess ice attached, break or melt it off. Place flowers in the ice cube tray so that they are floating on the remaining water. Drop the frozen ‘ice windows’ over the flowers. Place trays back in the cooler and freeze completely, around 5 hours in the freezer.
Once completely frozen, remove floral ice cubes from the tray. Store ice cubes in a plastic container in your freezer. If using right away, set ice cubes out for 10 minutes in advance to temper them and prevent cracking.
Edible flower Tips: This recipe uses dried roses and fresh pansies, both edible flowers produced beautiful results. For floral ice cubes there are so many beautiful options to choose from!
You can easily find edible dried flowers from Amazon or your local bulk foods store. Edible fresh flowers can be ordered from a specialty store and/or grown in your own backyard. When looking for edible fresh flowers, make sure that they have not been grown with pesticides and double check that they are safe to eat! Not all flowers are safe for human consumption.
Flower ideas: Chamomile blooms, fresh thyme or rosemary, lavender, peppermint leaves, chive blossoms, roses, pea flowers, and pansies.
Clear Ice Cube Tips: If you really want the clearest ice cubes possible I would suggest purchasing a specialty clear ice cube tray that aids in directional freezing.
Aside from purchasing a specialty product, we recommend using the process outlined in this recipe. Ice cubes become cloudy when minerals and air bubbles become trapped in the middle of the ice cube.
Using distilled, pure water reduces cloudiness because it doesn’t contain the minerals that tap water has.
Double boiling the water reduces air bubbles found in water, another factor that contributes to a cloudy ice cube.
Placing the ice cube trays in a cooler helps the ice freeze from top down, a process called directional freezing. This pushes any impurities and air bubbles to the bottom of the ice cube so that the cloudiness does not get stuck in the centre of the ice cube.
With research and experimentation this recipe tries to strike the right balance between practicality and perfection. Do you really need clear ice cubes? That’s up to you and what you are using them for!