Fancy fruit ice cubes

These fancy fruit ice cubes put the fun in FUNCtional. They’ve been a staple in our freezer during quarantine and I can’t wait to try more variations. Too bad I didn’t have any on hand when I made that Summer Solstice Sangria…

The best days are when I open my freezer to a fresh stockpile of fancy cubes. Of course, they take cocktails up a notch…. but also they’re a nice little pick-me-up in a glass of water and tea throughout the day.

Recently our ice machine decided to go kaput. So someone suggested making ice cubes the good ol’ fashioned way. I immediately grabbed these trays and put lemon and lime slices in them. I know, so fancy.

Fancy fruit ice cubes: minimal effort & endless combos

I get it, anything with the word fancy in it sounds a little scary. Or maybe it implies a lot of work. But trust me, these aren’t a lot of work at all.

And you can get super creative. Or you could go the simple route. Either way, they’re always a good choice.

They’re a great way to use up any random bits of fruit or juice you have. And you’ll impress anyone who gets a drink with a fancy fruit ice cube, even if it is yourself.

What you’ll need

To make these fancy fruit ice cubes, you’ll need:

• Ice cube molds or trays
• Juice or water
• Sliced fruit

We have your run-of-the-mill regular ice cube trays at home. I used to use them all the time when I would make baby food. (That was probably my fav part of having babies <3) But I really enjoy using these silicone molds that I originally bought to use with our instant pot.

I would have to say that I’ve used them way more for freezing liquids like homemade chicken broth, citrus juice and purees. They’re advertised as “egg bite molds” to make your own Starbucks sous vide egg bites at home. Either way, I recommend snagging some because of their versatility.

With all that being said, don’t worry if you don’t have some of these molds. You can totally use regular ice cube trays, I would just be mindful of cutting up your fruit into small enough pieces. Another bonus to using the molds is that one side is flat and they stand up easily in the glass before pouring your drink over them.

Get to making your fancy fruit ice cubes

To make your fancy fruit ice cubes, you’ll want to cut up your fruit and place them in your molds. I like to do this before adding liquid so the liquid doesn’t spillover. Then fill the molds with water or whatever juice you have. So far, I’ve tried orange, lime and lemon juice.

The best part about these is that the combos are endless! You can use fresh fruit, frozen fruit, fresh juice or bottled juice. You can go the sweet route and use lemonade or limeade. Or perhaps the savory route by using tomato juice with herbs.

And as I type this, a lightbulb just came on.

Hey Alexa, “does wine freeze?” LOL, I don’t even have an Alexa.

What combos should I try next? If you make some of your own, I would love to see them! Be sure to tag #theflowerbungalow / @flowerbungalow.