Easy Homemade Fruit Ice Cubes

“sssluuuurp… sssluuuurp…”

That’s the sound that welcomed me when I came into the kitchen.

An empty ice cube tray was left on the table.

“Real good those popsicles you made us, mommy!” splattered one kid, sucking noisily on a red ice cube.

Okay, cool! I had made those ice cubes with the aim of putting them in our drinks at supper time for an added touch of chill and color now that summer is peaking, but it seems the kids had beat me to it and helped themselves to the whole(!) tray when they were looking for a snack earlier.

Well, if they think of these ice cubes as popsicles, that’s just fine with me. A healthy treat that’s super easy to make, and is fun, fruity, refreshing and hydrating? Sure, I’m all in!

Hey, how about we go make another batch of these ‘popsicubes’ right now? Perhaps we’ll hide them further back in the freezer too, give them a chance to make it all the way to supper?

Ready? Great, let’s go!

You will notice two different techniques in the following recipes: lemonade-based cubes and blended fruit cubes. Both are a cinch to whip up.

We’ll start with the red cubes you see in the picture.

1. Berry Blast ice cubes

Made from a blend of fresh ripe strawberries, raspberries and water, I think these cubes live up to the definition ‘berry blast’, don’t you think? 

To the right you can see the fruit before blending.

Preps:

• Making:  5-10 minutes
• Freeze time:  about 2 ½ hours 

Makes:  one ice cube tray + some leftover to drink

For the Berry Blast ice cubes you will need: 
10-15 fresh ripe strawberries, stems removed
1 cup fresh raspberries
About 1 ½ cups water

How to make it:
1. Blend fruit and water till smooth.
2. Pour into ice cube tray and freeze for 2 ½ hours.

2. Orange-Mango ice cubes

Inspired by Chef Bobby Flay’s Rose Wine with Frozen Fruit Cubes recipe, this was my first attempt at freezing blended fruit, which -come to think of it- was the spark that inspired this whole post!

Looks posh?

Now look at the ingredients! A blend of orange and mango (and some water), that’s all there is to it! Really simple. 

Preps:

• Making:  5-10 minutes
• Freeze time:  2 ½ hours 

Makes:  one ice cube tray + some leftover to drink

For the orange-mango ice cubes you will need:
3 oranges freshly squeezed, with pulp, no seeds
½ mango, diced 
About ²⁄₃ cup water

How to make it:
1. Blend fruit and water till smooth.
2. Pour into ice cube tray and freeze for 2 ½ hours.

3. Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy ice cubes

As the name suggests, these delightful ice cubes are based on a simple homemade lemonade, into which – in the spirit of a Mediterranean lemonade- I’ve added halved grapes, lemon slices and mint leaves from the garden for some extra freshness.

Preps:

• Making:  10 minutes
• Freeze time:  about 2 ½ hours 

Makes:  one ice cube tray + some leftover to drink

For the Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy ice cubes you will need: 
1 ½ lemons freshly squeezed, with pulp, no seeds
½ lemon with skin sliced into rings, then cut into triangular pizza-shaped slices with skin
10 grapes, halved
15 fresh mint leaves
2-3 sachets stevia or to taste
Water

How to make it:
1. First we’ll make lemonade:
    In a quart jar combine squeezed lemon and stevia, fill with water and stir until stevia dissolves.
2. Pour into ice cube tray, then add half grape, lemon slice and mint into each cube.
3. Freeze for 2 ½ hours.

4. Lemon Berry ice cubes

The credit for the Lemon Berry ice cubes goes to my daughters who, on one hot summer day embarked on a culinary experiment in the kitchen, with the intent of surprising the family with a treat after supper.

The puddles of lemonade on the floor and splotches of blueberries on the kitchen counter were well worth the joy this treat has brought to our meal that night. What’s more, I’m always in favor when kids enjoy cooking. That’s a life skill worth learning and it will serve them well.

Later that evening I kindly asked their permission to take their recipe and tweak it into what you see in the picture. I even managed to reproduce it (under their close scrutiny, of course) with somewhat fewer splashes of lemonade and blotches of berries on the kitchen floor…

This is how it looks before and after freezing.

The pinkish tint is from frozen blueberries!

Preps:

• Making:  10 minutes
• Freeze time:  about 2 ½ hours 

Makes:  one ice cube tray + some leftover to drink

For the Lemon Berry ice cubes you will need:
1 ½ lemons freshly squeezed, with pulp, no seeds
5 fresh strawberries, diced, stems removed
15 fresh raspberries
15 frozen blueberries
2-3 sachets stevia or to taste
Water

How to make it:
1. First we’ll make lemonade:
    In a quart jar combine squeezed lemon and stevia, fill with water and stir until stevia dissolves.
2. Pour into ice cube tray, then add strawberry, raspberry and frozen blueberry into each cube.
3. Freeze for 2 ½ hours.

Fair chance those cubes will never make it into your drink… It might just be that someone (or someones) will find them much before you do and slurp them right on! But that’s just part of the fun, right?

Wishing you a sip-a-licious treat, a great weekend, and enjoy the last days of summer!

Didi
Wise Choice Market

DO YOU LIKE FRESH FRUIT?
I have written over 30 easy fruit recipes to make from scratch at home!
All the recipes are in my book Fresh Fruit Anyone? Easy Homemade Fruit Treats from Scratch, where you will find fruit-based snacks and desserts, mango porcupines, unique lemonades and smoothies, berry slushies, banana ice creams, orange-strawberry popsicles, peach jelloes, apple compotes, pear and berry jams, awesome no-bowl fruit salads, and much more!
I invite you to explore, enjoy, dig in, and be inspired by this fruitilicious feast!
Didi