Stupid Ice Tricks
I saw this food styling technique in Food & Wine a few issues back, and absolutely loved it… cool shapes of ice with a frozen treat inside. Brilliant, and so easy to do. I gave mine a whirl with some cranberries and fresh mint, with thoughts of mojitos to come. The little cubes stay just fine in the freezer for several months, although they do tend to loose their clarify. Still, they look fantastic in drinks.
For tips on making picture perfect ice, be sure to see Matt’s ideas. Then, once you’ve got that down, try some styled cubes:
1. Fill an ice cube tray just a hair over 1/3 full.
2. Drop something in it, like a berry or an herb.
3. Freeze it.
4. Remove the tray from the freezer, and top with water.
5. Freeze again.
Remove from the tray and use immediately, or store in a freezer container.
While you are at it, there are some great silicon ice cube trays now available. I love this square cube maker that I got at C&B. They also have them at Amazon:
“Perfect Cube Silicone Ice Cube Trays” (Netixchange)
Just make sure they are dishwasher safe before you try to wash them. I wrecked my all-to-cute penguin one.
If you are looking for one last idea for the white challenge, ice makes an interesting choice! You still have a few more days for shots!
Technorati Tags: Food, food magazine, Food Styling, Photography, Tips
Sometimes I just freeze the berries themselves to chill drinks to prevent watering down. But those don’t look as pretty in a glass. A good tip.
This is such a pretty idea! I usually ransack my garden for violets and flowering herbs in the spring and make ice cubes with them for the rest of the year but I never thought about freezing berries as well! Thanks Lara!
Well, how funny. When you buzz around the blog world and people are similarly inspired! I just posted on ice cubes for the wellfed network here:
http://cooksmarter.net/2007/01/22/ice-cube-trays-not-just-for-ice/
Actually I am posting a comment to say I would love to attempt some still life photos and am such an amateur compared to so many food stylists! But I would love/look forward to feedback/learning.
I saw this in F&W too and thought it was a great idea. Your photos are beautiful!
Wow, so pretty!
I think I am going to go to a store and buy some miniature plastic goldfish. Then I am going to freeze those into cubes, and then there will little goldfishes in my drinks. Now I just need to find a store that sells miniature plastic goldfish. Hmmmmmmmm…..
My mom always make ice cube with fresh mint. She put ice cubes in the fresh lemonade. And I am making lemon juice cubes with mint. Use in mineral water, coke and other. Sometimes put in cherry.
I agree with everyone – such beautiful shots, as always! I love the contrast of the red inside the cool icy cubes. Beautiful, L!
love this idea…really beautiful
Great stuff!
I know people who are using this technique in their photo-sessions. Sorry, pages are in Russian, but anyway you can see pictures of “Ice madness”.
http://tanusha.livejournal.com/693137.html
http://tanusha.livejournal.com/693428.html
great idea, I’m going to give it a try this weekend.