The ideal is, always and in any case, combine business with pleasure. Ice in cooking has many uses, the main one being its ability to cool drinks in the form of cubes.
This elementary practice is known by everyone, just put some ice trays or molds full of water in the freezer for a few hours and our ice cubes are ready. This does not prevent us from play with ice by adding other ingredients in addition to water, ingredients that we can find in the plant world, above all among the flowers, among the fruit and among the herbs.
Ice cubes with flowers
The practice of making ice cubes containing flowers is undoubtedly the most aesthetic of those listed, with a strong decorative factor, ideal for evenings with guests and guests.
The list of edible flowers that are suitable for this purpose is quite extensive and depends on the place and the season. To have perfect cubes the ideal is use silicone molds, soft enough to allow us to take our cubes without damaging them.
Angelica and lavender flowers, marigold flowers, small rosebuds, basil, sage and other aromatics such as mint and rosemary, blue borage and white chamomiles, chicory flowers, aromatic flowers of various citrus fruits (orange, lemon, cedar ...), yellow dandelion, small but tasty fennel flowers, aromatic jasmine flowers, nasturtiums and delicate violets spring.
The decorative effect is remarkable and it is recommended to use medium to large cubes.
Read also 10 variations of lemonade >>
Ice cubes with fruits
The peel and juice of the fruit can be used. Here the aesthetic factor has less importance but the flavor, which will modify the cooled liquindo, has much more importance.
You can put the peels of many different types of fruit in our molds together with water, above all that of citrus fruits, sparingly as the presence of essential oils can be disturbing and be too intrusive.
When we think of juice instead, it goes without saying that the best combination is that of a tasty juice that has a minimum of color to be transferred to the cube to make a little scene.
Pineapple juice, kiwi juice, orange juice they are the most used, together with the juices of berries. Speaking of berries, small berries, it is no mystery that they lend themselves well to entering whole cubes: ice with raspberries, mulberry, wild strawberries are very scenic delicacies.
Ice cubes with herbs
Herbs chapter. Aesthetics hardly matter here, and it doesn't matter if the cube is damaged at the edges and edges. All classic aromatic herbs know how to decorate with a minimalist style and bring their typical fragrance that makes them unique.
Cubes of mint ice are undoubtedly the most used but also those ai various types of basil they are not bad. These are accompanied by those with lemon balm, verbenda, coriander, perilla, lemongrass.
Herbs are sometimes accompanied with flowers and fruit: for example, ice cubes with mint and lemon juice or ice cubes with basil and strawberry juice are classic and always effective combinations.
In fact, mixing, playing and indulging themselves seems to be the best solution to make our drinks unique.
Read also Natural colors from fruit and vegetables >>
