Frozen Flower Serving Bowls

Name: Frozen Flower Serving Bowls
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 3 bowls.
Ingredients: Materials needed:; Assorted herbs and edible flowers such as mint, chamomile, pansies, nasturtiums, etc. or colored silk flowers and leaves; Ice cubes; Freezer tape; Wooden skewer; FOR LARGE BOWL: Freezer-proof glass bowlsone 1-quart bowl and one 2-1/2 quart bowl; FOR EACH SMALL BOWL: Freezer-proof glass custard cupsone 6-ounce cup and one 10-ounce cup

FRESH FROM our staff of kitchen crafters is a “cool” set of dishes you can easily shape for any occasion. What’s so special about these servers? To make them, you freeze flower filled water into bowl forms! The results of this fun kind of “sculpting” are intriguingly like crystal—at a cost you can easily afford. And the options are just about limitless for how you can put them to use. For example, try loading the large bowl with a colorful fruit salad, then serving it to guests in the smaller bowls, as we show here. Or fill just the large bowl with your favorite punch. Here’s another idea—brighten the dishes with assorted herbs to complement a brilliant vegetable salad. Ice cream, of course, is also a temptingly tasteful option. However you choose to present these frosty dishes, you can be sure they’ll bowl folks over at your affair.

Ingredients

Materials needed:
Assorted herbs and edible flowers such as mint, chamomile, pansies, nasturtiums, etc. or colored silk flowers and leaves
Ice cubes
Freezer tape
Wooden skewer
FOR LARGE BOWL: Freezer-proof glass bowls—one 1-quart bowl and one 2-1/2 quart bowl
FOR EACH SMALL BOWL: Freezer-proof glass custard cups—one 6-ounce cup and one 10-ounce cup

Directions

Directions: If you are using herbs and edible flowers, wash and pat dry blossoms and leaves. If you are using silk flowers and leaves, wash them gently in warm sudsy water, rinse and let the
foliage air-dry.
LARGE BOWL: Fill the 2-1/2-quart bowl half full with water. Arrange herbs and flowers or silk flowers and leaves to completely cover surface of the water. Place the 1-quart bowl on top of flowers so that there is about 1 inch of space between the bowls. Fill the 1-quart bowl with ice cubes and place freezer tape across both bowls to hold them in place (see Fig. 1).
Place the taped bowls in the freezer for 30 minutes or until ice crystals form on top of the water. Using a wooden skewer, place additional herbs or leaves and flowers between the sides of the bowls (see Fig. 2). Return bowls to freezer. Checking periodically on the bowls, continue to add and reposition flowers as the water freezes. Freeze overnight. To release the 1-quart bowl, remove freezer tape and ice cubes. Fill the 1-quart bowl with lukewarm water, then remove it from the ice bowl. To remove the 2-1/2-quart bowl, dip it in warm water and twist to loosen. Return the ice bowl to the freezer until you are ready to use it.
SMALL BOWL: Follow the procedure for filling the large bowl with water and flowers, substituting the 10-ounce custard cup for the 2-1/2-quart bowl and 6-ounce custard cup for the 1-quart bowl. Tape and freeze custard cups as directed for large bowl, adding flowers with wooden skewer as the ice forms. Freeze small
bowl for 4-5 hours. Remove custard cups as directed for bowls and place small ice bowl in freezer until you are ready to use it.

Crafterthoughts The sizes of bowls you make can easily be varied to suit your purposes. (Do keep in mind that you’ll want your servers to be thick enough, so pick large and small bowls for forming the ice versions that aren’t too close in size.) Tint the water with food coloring before you freeze it so the bowls match your decor…or the wedding party’s apparel…or your guest’s favorite hue. Finished size: Large bowl is 6 inches in diameter x 3 inches tall. Small bowls are 3-1/2 inches in diameter x 1-3/4 inches tall.

Originally published as Frozen Flower Serving Bowls in Crafting Traditions May/June 1997