These DIY lemon ice cubes take just 5 minutes of work and add a fancy festive flair to your water for parties or company.
When it comes to hosting a party, I have grand ideas of beautiful amazing decorating, fancy food, and hand designed invitations.
Then I wake up and realize I’m sleep deprived, my house is a mess, and may have forgotten to brush my hair for three days.
But I do have super easy technique for lemon ice cubes that takes almost no time or effort on my part, but makes my party seem fancy and special.
I don’t mean just pouring lemon juice into an ice cube tray, but beautiful, colorful, slices of real lemons, limes, and tangerines frozen in rounds of ice.
The only prep work is slicing your fruit and filling your trays. It takes about ten minutes, and is totally worth it.
I try to slice up some Meyer lemons (they’re a bit sweeter) or other citrus fruits about once a month. I place them in a muffin tray, fill it 3/4 full with water, then put the muffin trays in my freezer.
Once the water is completely frozen, I pop the cubes out, and store them in a gallon sized bag in the freezer.
If I have a party, I’ll use them all in a giant beverage jar. If I’m having a friend over for lunch, or a family over for dinner, I can put two or three lemon ice cubes in a pitcher of water. It’s just a simple touch that says, “my time with you is special”.
Do you have any secret party shortcuts?
Beautiful Lemon Ice Cubes
Beautiful ice cubes made from slices of fresh citrus fruit in a muffin tray.
Ingredients
- 2 Meyer lemons
- 2 limes
- 2 tangerines
Instructions
- Slice both ends off of each piece of fruit, then slice the fruit into 4-6 circles.
- Fill the cups of a couple muffin trays 3/4 of the way with cold water.
- Place a citrus slice on top of the water in each cup, then use a glass to pour in additional water if needed.
- Place muffin trays in the freezer, and freeze overnight.
- Pop the cubes from the muffin trays (you can run the bottom of the trays under cool water if needed to loosen them) and place in a gallon sized plastic bag. Return bag to freezer.
Notes
Approximate cost/serving: Depends on whether citrus is in season or not. I find it usually costs me about $2-3 to make a batch.
Vegetarian/gluten free: Yes to both and vegan too.
