A couple of weeks ago we did the budget meal challenge. I reckon this week’s challenge would have been as cheap as the budget meal. Except for the raspberries and cherry I had the majority of the ingredients at home already. I must admit that I’ve never done any fancy ice cube in my life. Generally I just add water to the tray put it in the freezer and access when I need to.
This has been a very straight forward that I’ve been using ever since I’ve been a kick. But just like with traditional milkshake even the way you prepare ice cubes have changed. In fact this has become a real art being perfected on those fancy bistro or restaurant. Everyone is trying to have an edge on their competitors. “Everything that shines ain’t gold.” That famous expression does not necessarily apply to the hospitality industry. People now eat and drink through their eyes first before actually applying the food and drink through their palate.
No wonder then that all the fancy bars popping up in the big cities have got these fancy addition to their drinks. Some barmen/barmaids have up their skills. Over and above their cocktails skills they have now turned into ice sculpter. They will work the ice as you’ve never seen before and do it with such maestria that sometimes you would feel really bad everything crunching through their work of art. Because I’ve never seen some given a glass full of ice not attempt to least crunch their way through at least one ice cube!
This week’s challenge comes at a very good time. Today the temperature is predicted to reach 29 degrees celsius. I will try to keep cool as much as I can. But it is likely that in the afternoon I’ll try to enjoy the sun by sitting on my alfresco and sipping through some cold drinks. The challenge was particularly hard for me as ideally I would have like to add the fancy ice cubes to a fizzy soft drink, a beer or some gin and tonic. However, with my husband, we are doing a dry November. Nothing sinister, we just thought it would be good how we go not having any alcohol or sugar for a month. By that I mean that voluntarily adding sugar to our food or drink. As a result we chose to only use sparkling water for the drink.
At home we have the traditional ice cube tray. Very standard in form and nothing fancy about it. I thought I would look for something more interesting that provide more depth, to add larger fruits, but also where I can shape the ice cube into different forms (not necessarily square or rectangular). I looked online for such products and most of the them were above $10. Then I checked the local Kmart store and was surprised to get all the trays I needed for less than $6! In the post inviting entries to this week’s challenge, @cookwithus mentioned that it is quite hard to get the ice cube completely transparent. It is indeed. However, it appears that the secret of a transparent cube is in boiling the water twice before pouring it into the tray.
I tried that. Some worked really well and is completely transparent. Others worked less well but you can still distinguish the fruits or herbs that have been added. I reckon that I might have been mistaken in pre-washing the fruits and herbs (as you should!) before freezing them. The excess water on them might have created the additional layer of freezing that prevented some of my cubes from being completely transparent. But for a first attempt at fancy cubes, I must admit that I am very happy with the outcome. And of course, refreshingly happy with the added flavour to my drinks.
I hope you enjoy it.
Bon appétit!
And good luck to everyone.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 litre Sparkling Water
- 10 Raspberries
- 4 Strawberries
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 Lemon
- 4 Cherries
- 1 bunch Rosemary
METHOD
- Boil 7 cups of water in a kettle. Allow to partially cool down and boil the water again. Let water cool down. In the meantime, prepare your ice cube trays and place the fruits and herbs in your preferred order.
- Pour in the cooled water and place in freezer overnight.
- Un-mould the ice cubes.
- Place the ice-cubes in the glasses and add sparkling water.
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Beautifully presented @foodforsoul, those ice cubes look clear and refreshing! I like how you've incorporated rosemary as well as using fruits, I can imagine it was a very aromatic palate pleaser along with the sparkling water :)
Great entry :)
Thank you @gardeningchef. My first thought was about having a really broad choice for the final presentation. So I tried a few different elements and was happy I could use some really nice one based on how they’ve froze. I’m definitely going to try this for the holidays.
Wow - this looks magnificent @foodforsoul - love your ice-cubes - would make a talking point at any dinner party - really makes you want to drink - how refreshing
Thank you @pandamama. I was lucky to find those trays as a very reasonable price over the week. I am glad they turned out nicely. And the buddies from the sparkling water help with the pics too which was a big bonus.
I'm so inspired - what a beautiful entry @foodforsoul
Thank you @lesbento. I hope to see an entry from you.
You did a great job with this challenge. It is a lot harder than it seems. Your ice cubes look amazing and your cocktails look so elegant and fun!
Below are two links to clear ice making that I thought were great in explaining how ice forms and how to get perfectly clear ice.
https://www.studioneat.com/blogs/main/18098872-how-to-make-clear-ice
Thank you @chefsteve. I had a lot of fun doing this challenge as it involved being creative. I was quite happy to have managed to get some pretty clear ice cubes. I didn’t get all of them though maybe it was because I prewashed the fruits and herbs and this might have contaminated in some ways the water. But I’m glad with the outcome nevertheless. Thank you for the link as well.
Your ice cubes are so gorgeous @foodforsoul, sparkling water always is my choice, looks so refreshing for a hot summer's day!
I've been playing with ice cubes since Friday, still have to post. Funny I also wanted to use cherries initially but could not find any!
Thank you @lizelle. You should hurry up and get your post up or it might melt! Lol! It was quite a challenge to get the ice cubes to stay idle on the board without sliding to the floor. But it was quite an interesting challenge. Good luck Lizelle.
Haha you're right, especially if it's another hot day! Your photographs looked lovely as always!
Congrats on the curie, well deserved :)
Amazing recipe as always :) Do you have some facebook or other site where I can follow you as well
Thank you. Unfortunately I try to stay away from social media. I only post my recipes on Steemit.
Great to hear that steemit is the place you publish your post and much deserved curie upvote.
Thank you.
Hi foodforsoul,
Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.
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That looks really refreshing! This first attempt definitely didn't look like one, I love the different berries and herbs you used for this, that's like an explosion of different flavors in one refreshing sip!
It looks so easy to put together too, so, its definitely one to try. Looks fancy, tastes amazing (obviously) and easy to put together. This sure is a keeper!😀
Thank you @audreybits. It is indeed really easy if you have the tightly shaped trays otherwise it is a little bit harder to fit them in the standard traditional trays that come with the fridge.
Ooh... The better the try, the easier it gets!! That is cool.... ThanKs for that tip!
This is the most fun and easy recipe to make that I have ever seen, I loved it and I will try to make it using fruits native to my country. It's so easy, it seems incredible, thanks for sharing such an ingenious idea, sometimes we are so busy that we do not think of doing things like the one you did.
Thank you. You should definitely give it a try. Like you I thought of it as being really hard until I gave it a good try.
o wow! u nailed it, i guess its the right time of year over there for u to really enjoy this challenge :)
Thank you @celestialcow. It is definitely the right time of the year to start having refreshing drinks and attempting to create new drinks to make December a little more exciting and less boring.
Nooo way!! This is the coolest freaking idea ever!! How come that I've never seen something like this ever??? Omg I'd die from water overdose if someone would offer me drinks with these cubes hahaha :D
This is absolutely perfect! The only downside I see is that it actually isn't a meal haha :D But as a baverage to some nice food...gooood I'd love this so much.
I'm actually pretty sure I'll prepare this next summer. There's just no way around it :) Thanks for sharing this tip, I'll indeed implement it in my life :D
Cheers! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your nice comments. All the merit for this idea goes to the @cookwithus team. I wouldn’t have thought about creating these fancy ice cubes before it was put to me as a challenge. But now lll definitely give it a try and serve it to my guests in order to make my parties a little bit more fancy.
These are definitely fit for any fancy bar! I'm usually a fan of room temperature water, but I think I would change my tune if I had ice cubes this pretty to use. :)
Thank you @plantstoplanks. It was a fun challenge to take on especially in a warm weekend in Melbourne. It’s always fun to play with water and transform them into things you enjoy.
It seems simple, but I see that getting the absolute transparency of the ice cubes was not so easy. I knew about that secret but I never tried it.
I love the idea of having fruits inside it looks so beautiful and sophisticated that it causes some to do right now, but at this moment the cold is coming to my country, it is not something appropriate hahaha ..
I love every picture, they are very warm and tropical, with a lot of quality, I really liked your post is quite original, a big hug @foodforsoul
Thank you @naideth for your thoughtful comments. You should maybe come and join us on this contest they are fun, challenging and open to everyone regardless of their cooking experiences.
Thank you very much for the invitation, I have seen so many incredible entries to this contest that if I see a good opportunity I will cheer: D
Congrats on the well-deserved whale votes! I wondered what you would come up with for this challenge and love that you took the ice cube theme seriously and created beautiful art. The variety of ingredients and shapes you used are fun and inspiring. Hope these beautiful and fun ice cubes find their way in your future parties, gatherings or even your family dinners.
Thank you @offoodandart. They’ll definitely be part of any party I might have in summer. They were so fun to create and I was lucky to find some really nice by cheap ice cube trays.
That's so great to come along some cheap ice cube trays. Well, it was meant to be ...
The ice cubes look adorable @foodforsoul! And such a wonderfully brilliant idea!! Thank you for showing us the steps and your photographs are amazing! The drinks added with these colourful ice cubes are so enticing to watch to see the cubes melt to unveil the fruits and herbs :)
Nice icy fruits, look like in a fairy tale when they are frozen by Frost Queen. I can imagine that many people will be attracting with this beauty and the tables decorated with such beautiful, I would even say Artworks. Sometimes when you have an important meeting or any VIP manager’s dinner, you want to make something special and this small deco can really change the whole atmosphere and the mood. I believe nobody can leave it unnoticed. Thank you for sharing this secret with us, that is also a good tip for hot summer day :)
Howdy from Texas foodforsoul! This is such a fun, cool post! lol. I've never even heard of these fancy, fruit ice cubes before and didn't know that anyone was doing this so it's a fun surprise. They are really gorgeous and with your detailed instructions I think it would be fun to try.
Anyway, this is a beautiful post so well done!