Ten Practical Ways to Use Ice Cubes

Almost every home has at least one ice cube tray, but for the large part, most of us tend to use ice cubes in the regular way - to cool down our drinks. We may try something a little bit different by buying trays that create cubes in various shapes, but there are many more ways to jazz up a simple cube of ice. In fact, ice trays and cubes have the potential for many other uses - some of them practical and some of them just plain fun.

10 Ways to Use Ice Cubes

Here are a few ideas on how to turn your ice trays from mundane to fantastic, with just a few additional ingredients. 

Add edible flowers such as pansies or rose petals into your ice trays before adding water. These are a great way to add some style to drinks for functions, cocktail parties, romantic dinners or even tea parties with friends.

Add some food colouring or even edible glitter to your ice trays for an even more eye-catching option - this option is ideal for weddings or glitzy parties where you want to make a statement.

Freeze individual portions of baby food for a quick and convenient way to heat and serve later. This saves plenty of time for busy parents!

Freeze herbs of any kind to reuse later. As cut herbs don't last very long even in the fridge, this is a good way to keep them fresh until you use them.

Add flavoured yoghurt or fruit juice, or even bubbly or sweet wine to your ice cube trays, and once they are almost set, add a toothpick. Once they are completely frozen, you will have delicious mini ice lollies.

Keep your iced coffee perfectly chilled with frozen cubes of ready-made coffee. If you prefer your coffee on the stronger side, freeze strong black coffee. Otherwise add milk and sugar to taste for a milder version.

Make ice sculptures from your ice cubes by adding glitter, flowers, food colouring and other decorations before freezing. Once frozen, these blocks can be melded together using a bit of salted water, resulting in fantastic creations made of ice.

Create an elegant, unusual ice cream dessert by adding your ice cream mixture to individual ice trays rather than one large container. Once the ice cream has set, you can build an edible ice cream sculpture that is sure to impress guests.

Add pureed fruit or whole small berries to use for smoothies and slushy drinks. These can be added to drinks as whole cubes, or added to the blender along with yoghurt for a scrumptious frozen drink.

Freeze pre-made stock in ice trays for a quick and convenient way to add flavour to soups and stews, without having to remake stock from scratch.

Did you know that your ice trays also have many different uses? These can be used for anything from button and bead storage to jewellery boxes, snack trays or even office odds and ends storage. With so many unique ways to use both ice cubes and trays, these items become far less mundane and a lot more useful than you may have assumed before.