Floral Lemonade

What screams summertime louder than homemade lemonade? Ok maybe a bunch of things but seriously, homemade lemonade…warm weather perfection if you ask me. And since the school year is starting to sneak up on us, now is the time to seize your summertime favorites. I’ve always wanted to try floral ice cubes too. The combo of delicious lemonade and beautiful ice cubes with edible flowers was just too much to resist. It’s a beautiful way to welcome friends and a delicious treat. And probably just moms needing a vacation but Ruthie and I agreed, add a little vodka (and a beach!) and you’ve got cocktail perfection. Either way, the floral ice cubes really brings the “wow” factor to an old classic.

Start by finding some beautiful edible flowers. I got these pansies from my local garden center towards the end of spring and they’ve lasted surprisingly well. I wanted to get the ice cubes as clear as possible so you could really see the flowers so I googled all sorts of ways to get crystal clear ice. And even though I followed the instructions I found online they didn’t come out crystal clear like I hoped. If you’re wanting to try it yourself, here are the tips I found: boil filtered water (preferably distilled water) and then let cool. Reboil the same water again and let it cool. When it is completely cool pour the water slowly into your ice tray adding your flower heads. The goal is to boil out the impurities and try not to stir up too many bubbles as you get the water into the trays. If however you’d like to rely on technology, this ice cube maker from Amazon will do the trick for you.

For the lemonade, I used about 8 large lemons and squeezed the juice out to get about 1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Make a simple syrup on the stove top. I did 1 cup of sugar with 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar crystals and cool completely before mixing with your lemon juice.

Add coarse granulated sugar to a bowl, fill a second bowl up with water. Dip the tip of your serving glasses in the water and then dip in the sugar to get a sugar coated rim.

I poured my lemon juice into a pitcher, added some of the cooled simple syrup, some water and ice cubes and tasted the concoction until it was just the right tart, just the right sweet. I really think this varies per person so take one for the team and taste it until you think it is ready. Pretty darn easy and boy can you tell the lemons were fresh squeezed. Holy YUM!

I hope you enjoy making some unique ice cubes to add to your homemade lemonade this summer. Such a delicious (& lovely!) treat. And speaking of lovely, these pictures by my friend Ruthie of Ruth Eileen Photography are just filled with lovely. From interior shoots to wrangling smiles out of your wee ones, she’s the queen of lovely pictures. I hope you’ll give her a call with your next project.