Recipe: Pimms / Mojito / Chai ice cubes

What a summer, eh? Fruit seems to go off the moment you buy / pick it and everything's all hot and sticky! So here are my solutions:

Pimms ice cubes

Pimms No. 1 is a gin based 'fruit cup' liqueur which is very popular in the summer in the UK when mixed with lemonade and fruit. It is great to share at a party / picnic / BBQ but not so fun to have on your own because you usually end up omitting the iconic fruit (you don't want to buy a whole punnet of strawberries just to use one / a whole lemon just for one wedge etc) however if you have these cubes waiting in the fridge / freezer you can still enjoy the full Pimms experience whenever you want!

These cubes also go nicely in almost any other fruit cocktail. If you don't drink alcohol a good alternative to Pimms is Schweppes' Summer Punch. I've also been drinking them in non-alcoholic grape juice and my morning fruit juice.

You will need:

• An ice cube tray
• Ripe Pimms fruit (I used one strawberry and one grape per cube section but the other Pimms fruits such as one orange slice, lemon slice, apple slice, cucumber slice, mint leaf will also do)
• Water
• A fridge / freezer

Make sure your fruit fits the centre of each ice cube section. You will probably have to cut your strawberries in half (these were the last of my home grown strawberries so were small enough to go in whole). If your fruit is too big and touches both walls of the ice cube section it will make it really difficult to get your ice cube out when frozen! Trust me!

If you are using lots of different types of fruit don't squeeze too much in or the cubes will never come out! I'd say three pieces of fruit is the most you should put into each cube section.

Top up the cube sections with water (though not completely to the top as that will also make them hard to get out) and put into the fridge / freezer to freeze.

When set break into a glass, add Pimms (about 1/3 Pimms to 2/3 lemonade) and enjoy!

 

Mojito ice cubes

 

A variation on the Pimms cube is the 'mojito' cube. These ice cubes also go nicely in other fruity cocktails and non-alcohol fruit drinks.

 



You will need:

• An ice cube tray
• One half slice of cucumber per cube section
• One half slice of lime per cube section
• One sprig of mint per cube section
• Water
• A fridge / freezer

Follow the same method as for the Pimms cubes.

Chai ice cubes

My final variation is designed to go into iced coffees, iced teas (milk or herbal) or plain milk to add an extra twist of spice. I wouldn't recommend adding them to chai tea itself as they will make it too strong.

You will need:

• An ice cube tray
• Water / milk
• Your favourite chai tea mix (here are some good suggestions)
• A fridge / freezer

Fill the ice cube tray with water or milk (water will dilute your drink whereas milk will make it taste creamy). Obviously if your drink was not milk based to begin with don't use milk for the cubes or it will make your drink go all cloudy and weird.

Stir into each ice cube section 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of chai tea mix (if you want a subtle flavour use less, if you want a fuller flavour add more). Powdered tea mix works better as it will infuse better with a cool liquid. If you wanted to be really sure the tea flavour infused you could heat your milk / water with the chai tea mix first.

Put into the fridge / freezer to freeze then when the cubes are set break on top of your favourite iced coffee / tea and watch the little particles of chai mix with your drink as the cubes melt.