Nothing takes a drink to another level like festive ice cubes with edible ingredients frozen in the middle. It's an unexpected garnish that leaves a pop of colour and slowly enhances the drink flavours as the edible pieces slowly melt into a cocktail, punch, water or juice.
I have included here in my ice recipe, a winter trio of cranberries, pomegranate arils and a needle or two of chopped rosemary. There's no real recipe involved, add as many edible pieces as you would like! More or less, it's about your personal preference.
I have also used edible ice garnishes with summer ingredients, such as berries (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries), herbs (mint) and edible flowers. The flower ice cubes are definitely a show stopper in a champagne cocktail! Really, you can use almost anything as long as it's edible and the flavours will enhance the drink or punch you are placing it into.
Here's the key though...beautiful garnished ice needs the water to be boiled prior to freezing. Unboiled water, when frozen, leads to cloudy ice. Boiling the water first removes dissolved gases, which increases the clarity of the ice cube and of course, the frozen ingredients inside! It's an extra step, but it's totally worth it in order to showcase your garnish.
The ice cubes can be made a day or two ahead of use.
Good luck and happy freezing!
Krista
Holiday Ice Cubes
Here's what you'll need:
Ice cube trays (depending on how many ice cubes you need), I did 2 trays
Kettle
Water - I boiled 4 cups
Cranberries, pomegranate arils, rosemary needles ( I like to add about 5 -7 items in total in small cube trays, double or triple for bigger ice molds)
Method:
Boil water and let cool to room temperature. Fill ice cube trays half full. Place ingredients into tray and freeze for at least 2 hours, or until solid. Remove trays from freezer and quickly top with a few more ingredients and fill with remaining room temperature water to top of tray. Freeze until firm. Garnish drink with holiday ice.
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