Homemade water ice cream ensures a culinary cooldown at record temperatures. And after these 8 recipes, from fruity smoothie ice cream to Hugo on the stick, even spoiled trendiest mouths will lick their fingers.
the main thing is sweet and colourful. Children love water ice cream – and we adults like to be cooled by it too. But we think it can be done a little better than what you can find in the freezers in front of the checkout: with less sugar, less food coloring and more taste. Ice cream with style, that’s it!
And it doesn’t take much to make water ice cream yourself. Because everything that is liquid at normal temperature can basically be processed into water ice cream if you have a freezer and a little patience.
Make water ice cream yourself: That’s how it works
The good thing about making water ice cream yourself is that you don’t need an ice cream machine. In contrast to milk ice cream, water ice cream does not have to be stirred constantly when freezing. You simply fill the mixed ice cream into a mold and put the whole thing in the freezer for at least 6 hours. As soon as the mixture has thawed slightly, insert the stick and let the ice cream set.
The main ingredients
You really can’t go wrong when making water ice cream. Anything that tastes good is allowed. Like a perfumer, we mix our delicious water ice cream recipes from three elements: the base liquid that holds the ice cream together, the special flavor ingredient that immediately delights the palate, and that certain something extra.
The basic recipe
1 The basis for a water ice cream recipe is always a liquid that can be refined as desired. Fruit juices, teas and soft drinks such as cola, for example, are suitable as a basic recipe.
But you can also work with thicker foods, such as smoothies (i.e. pureed fruit), coconut milk or yoghurt.
The Flavor Ingredients
2 Which additions you want to add to the water ice cream is up to your personal taste.
Fresh fruits are particularly suitable, as are fresh herbs (e.g. mint leaves are very fine).
Or how about a dash of syrup (e.g. elderberry syrup)?
That certain extra
3 For ice cream with style, we top the ice cream recipe with sophisticated extras. For example, you can sprinkle a few edible flowers in the ice cream for the eye . But chocolate sprinkles, nuts or muesli can also be integrated into the water ice cream.
Another little tip for all party friends: water ice cream cocktails (poptails), in which a dash of alcohol is mixed into the basic recipe, are particularly popular at the moment.
As far as the degree of sweetness is concerned, you are of course also the master of your water ice cream recipe. You can either leave out the sweetness or replace the sweet kick with a calorie-free sweetener or natural honey.
Tip : Ice cream swallows sweetness, so always add a little more than you find liquid when it’s fine.
The 8 finest water ice cream recipes
Party for the eyes: watermelon ice cream
Ingredients:
1/2 kg seedless watermelon
approx. 5 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup coconut milk
6 kiwis
possibly chocolate cubes
First, watermelon, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 2 tablespoons sugar are put into the blender and finely pureed. Skim off the froth and then carefully pour into the water ice cream mold until it is a good two-thirds full. Be careful, because this is the only way to achieve a beautiful color gradient.
If you want to create the perfect watermelon look for your ice cream yourself, slowly sprinkle in a few chocolate cubes. Then the first layer goes into the freezer for about 3 hours.
When the mass is firm, comes the coconut part. For this, the coconut milk is first whisked with half a teaspoon of sugar. First let the mixture freeze as a whole for 30 minutes, then add 1 tablespoon to each of the melon ice cream and smooth it out. If the coconut ice cream is already too thick, you can dilute it with a little water. Now the water ice cream goes into the freezer again for 45 minutes.
In the meantime you can prepare the last layer of kiwi ice cream. Peel the kiwis and puree with 2 tablespoons of sugar and spread evenly over the already frozen water ice cream layers. You should now put the homemade water ice cream in the freezer for the last 3 hours – and then enjoy. A feast for the eyes for little and big girls!
Water ice cream made from pureed fruits: smoothie on a stick
Not only are smoothies healthy and filling, they’re the perfect summertime refreshment when served ice cold and on a stick. To do this, we simply mix our favorite smoothie (e.g. banana, blueberries and orange) as usual and fill it into a water ice cream dish. The ice-cold fruit treat is ready!
Enjoy healthy: green smoothie water ice cream
Here everything goes into the mixer as usual and is frozen for a few hours. So that the ice cream also tastes delicious and is not spurned by children and cones never to be seen again, it is best to choose very sweet fruit or add sweetener if necessary.
Tip : Ice cream takes away the sweetness of the liquid, so mix it up a little sweeter.
Crazy idea: vodka grapefruit water ice cream
Water ice cream with alcohol… We like! A nice surprise for lavish summer parties. And those who prefer it tart to sweet will love this vodka-grapefruit ice cream.
For this, 500g strawberries are pureed with 500 ml grapefruit juice and mixed with 150 ml vodka. Freeze for 6 hours and the party can begin. Glace-cin-cin!
Water ice cream as an aperitif: Cooler Hugo
Apéro drinks or cocktails can also be served on a stick. To do this, simply mix a Hugo as usual, i.e. 150 ml Prosecco with 100 ml sparkling water, a dash of elderberry syrup and a few fresh mint leaves and a little lime, and pour the whole thing into a water ice cream mold to freeze. After 24 hours, the whole thing is ready to toast.
Something is blooming: Frozen Flower water ice cream
The finest of all popsicles is Jerry James Stone’s Champagne Blossom Water Ice Cream.
All you need is some time (it takes about 10 hours to prepare), edible flowers and champagne. You can find the whole water ice cream recipe to make yourself explained step by step here .
Ingredients for green smoothie ice cream
2 oranges, peeled
1 apple
1 handful of spinach leaves
2 tbsp ripe avocado
1 tsp chia seeds
50ml coconut water 1 lime squeezed
Of course, you can also use healthier green smoothies to make water ice cream. A fine green smoothie ice cream recipe with spinach and avocado and sweet fruits is available on the food blog Carrots for Claire , which is dedicated to healthy cuisine.
Here everything goes into the mixer as usual and is frozen for a few hours. So that the ice cream also tastes delicious and is not spurned by children and cones never to be seen again, it is best to choose very sweet fruit or add sweetener if necessary.
Tip : Ice cream takes away the sweetness of the liquid, so mix it up a little sweeter.
Crazy idea: vodka grapefruit water ice cream
Water ice cream with alcohol… We like! A nice surprise for lavish summer parties. And those who prefer it tart to sweet will love this vodka-grapefruit ice cream.
For this, 500g strawberries are pureed with 500 ml grapefruit juice and mixed with 150 ml vodka. Freeze for 6 hours and the party can begin. Glace-cin-cin!
Water ice cream as an aperitif: Cooler Hugo
Apéro drinks or cocktails can also be served on a stick. To do this, simply mix a Hugo as usual, i.e. 150 ml Prosecco with 100 ml sparkling water, a dash of elderberry syrup and a few fresh mint leaves and a little lime, and pour the whole thing into a water ice cream mold to freeze. After 24 hours, the whole thing is ready to toast.
Something is blooming: Frozen Flower water ice cream
The finest of all popsicles is Jerry James Stone’s Champagne Blossom Water Ice Cream.
All you need is some time (it takes about 10 hours to prepare), edible flowers and champagne. You can find the whole water ice cream recipe to make yourself explained step by step here .
Must-try water ice cream: vegetables on the rocks
Who actually said that water ice cream always has to taste sweet? A new food trend are hearty water ice cream variations, which can be served as a summer appetizer for a barbecue.
For example, you can mix finely pureed beetroot with a squeeze of lemon juice, a spoonful of Greek yoghurt and some salt and pepper. The whole thing is prepared as usual as a water ice cream and the cool starter is ready.
A nice vegetable and fruit variant made from beetroot juice, lime juice and raspberries can also be discovered at Supergolden Bakes .
That’s fresh! Peppermint Water Ice Cream
This homemade water ice cream simply mixes some peppermint tea with a dash of mint syrup and a few fresh mint leaves.
Tip : A few slices of lemon not only look summery in this water ice cream, they also give the fresh taste a fruity kick.
If you like it a little sweeter and don’t mind the calories in ice cream, you might try the recipe variation from food blogger Megan (a zesty BITE). Megan mixes 2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream with 10 peppermint cookies (eg After Eight), ¼ cup milk and some green food coloring in a blender until the cookie pieces are very fine. Then she freezes the mass for at least 6 hours.
Do you prefer cream ice cream? Here are more delicious ice cream recipes:
Recipe for delicious strawberry ice cream
Ingredients :
- 300g strawberries
- 1 packet of vanilla sugar
- 5 tbsp sugar
- 100ml milk
- 200ml cream
First, the strawberries are washed, freed from the green and quartered. Then the fruits are placed in a tall container or blender along with the rest of the ingredients and pureed. Now the mass goes into an ice cream machine until it has a creamy consistency.
Tip : If you have an ice cream maker with a cold pack, the mass should be stored in the fridge for about 12-24 hours beforehand.
