Fruit ice can be pampered not only on a hot summer day. It can be a wonderful dessert in the winter too - if served with hot tea and honey. Indeed, in winter it is so nice to remember the aromas of the summer garden! And you can safely treat children with this delicacy, because fruit ice prepared at home does not contain harmful flavors, chemical dyes and preservatives. In addition, making fruit ice at home is very simple.
Know the theory
What is fruit ice made of? First, we’ll read the label on the fragrant piece of coolness that we bought at the store and asks for it in our mouths. And what will we see there? Concentrated juice is far from the greatest evil. Besides him there is still a whole list of chemistry, and there is no doubt in its "usefulness": guar gum, sodium alginate, dextrose, flavor enhancers, carrageenan. Next come the more or less safe ingredients: citric acid and identical to natural dyes. The industrial preparation of fruit ice is not possible without these ingredients. All these substances make fruit ice so attractive. But how do they affect health? It is especially sad to think that children are very fond of this sweetness ...
Alternative to own production
But what happens if you make fruit ice at home? All vitamins and minerals that are found in fresh berries and fruits will be perfectly preserved. And the appearance of homemade ice can be made absolutely anything. Especially spectacular are desserts frozen in layers, and each layer will have a different taste. Kids will definitely appreciate it!
Proportions for home cooking
Do not learn the recipe by heart. The main thing is to understand its essence. Then it will be easy to find a replacement for those products that were not at hand, and the experiments will appeal to both adults and children. Before making fruit ice at home, you should find out the approximate proportions of the products:
- water - about half a liter;
- fruit and berry juice or mashed potatoes - 1 glass;
- sugar - to taste, but not more than 200 g;
- gelatin - 5 g;
- lemon or lime juice - 1 tbsp. the spoon.
In detail about the fruit portion
You can make fruit ice at home from almost any favorite fruit and berry. Both strawberries, cherries, currants, and exotic oranges, tangerines, and mangoes that are familiar from childhood are perfect. Perfectly complement fruit ice and northern berries: blackberries, cranberries, blueberries. Separately, it is worth highlighting a banana - it is simply created for making cold desserts.
Mom's helpers
Those who decided to make fruit ice at home can not do without molds and sticks. The latter can be "accumulated" by collecting them from popsicle ice cream. And molds can be bought ready-made or made independently. The range of ready-made molds is simply huge! They are beckoning to experiment with colors and content. But if someone was not lucky enough to meet this miracle on sale - it does not matter. Glasses of yogurt or even ordinary plastic glasses of the right size are quite suitable for fruit ice.
Cooking
So, everything you need is at hand. First, we dilute gelatin in cold water for about 30 minutes. Dissolve sugar in water, warm it so that it dissolves faster. Pour gelatin to it, boil. Let cool slightly and combine with juice or mashed potatoes, introduce lemon or lime juice. Optionally, before pouring into molds, the base for ice can be squeezed through cheesecloth, then the finished dessert will be softer. It remains only to pour into forms and allow to freeze.